Naruto: The Secret Songs of the Ninja
by Arcane Azmadi
Summary: In the wake of the battle in the Land of the Waves, Uchiha Sasuke never opened his eyes. Devastated by the death of their teammate and friend, Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura are forced to begin again with a new teammate, a new mission and a new destiny. But even a small rock thrown into a still pool creates ripples- and ripples may become waves that can drown the unwary...
1. Chapter 1

NARUTO: THE SECRET SONGS OF THE NINJA.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. All characters and settings are property of Masa-why do I need to tell you this? Isn't it a bit obvious? Would anyone even be LOOKING at this if they didn't already know it was based on a manga by Masashi Kishimoto? Of COURSE I don't own Naruto!

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Chapter 1: The Song of Lost Souls.

It was a small, sad procession which returned to the hidden village of Konoha- smaller than it had been when it had departed. Hatake Kakashi and Uzumaki Naruto walked slowly, bearing between them a loaded stretcher covered by a blanket. Haruno Sakura walked behind them, her eyes red and fixed on the ground directly in front of her.

Uchiha Sasuke did not walk with them.

Kakashi was in turmoil as he turned over in his mind the report he would be forced to submit. It would be the most difficult of his long and varied career. The facts were simple enough: the team was returning from what should have been a simple C-ranked mission to escort a man back to his home in the Country of the Wave. The mission had not gone at all according to plan. The client Tazuna-san had misrepresented the dangers posed by the mission, which included a pair of highly lethal rogue ninja. In clashes between his team and the Mist renegade Momochi Zabuza, Kakashi and his students had protected Tazuna-san; Zabuza and his follower Haku were both dead, as was one member from Kakashi's team. A dangerous criminal syndicate had been smashed with the death of the crime boss Gato and there had been a noteworthy incident involving Uzumaki Naruto- reporting the _facts_ of the mission would be simple.

Technically the mission, which by any reasonable standard should have been A-ranked, had been an impressive success for a single jounin and three genin, but this was of small consolation to the ninja master. Kakashi had lost ninja under his command before. He had even lost close friends. But the loss of one of his first ever students gnawed at him more than any other because he couldn't shake the feeling it could have -_should_ have- turned out better.

Naruto's eyes were dull as he trudged behind his sensei, carrying the other end of the stretcher. His gaze was fixed on the spiral design on the back of Kakashi's jacket, tracing it from the outside to the center and back, over and over again. His eyes had traced the pattern continuously ever since they had left the Country of the Wave- whenever he stopped he found himself unable to keep them from dropping to the covered body lying on the stretcher between them. Each time he did an agonising wave of guilt rushed through him. He was still alive and Sasuke was dead.

Because of him.

Because he had been too weak, Sasuke had given up his life to save Naruto and the young ninja knew that he would carry this burden for the rest of his life.

Sakura did not cry. Her eyes had run dry when she had wept over Sasuke's body on the bridge, leaving her with only a sick hollow feeling. What tormented her almost as much as her loss was her total ignorance of the circumstances of Sasuke's death. Sasuke and Naruto had been fighting Zabuza's masked protege when Zabuza had summoned a cloud of mist and Sakura had lost sight of them. When the mist cleared the masked boy had died at Kakashi's hands, Naruto had returned on the verge of tears and Sasuke's cold body had been left lying on the ground, pierced by countless numbers of the enemy's senbon.

She had not dared ask Naruto what had transpired between the three of them, or how he emerged virtually uninjured from the battle which had claimed Sasuke's life. She was afraid to ask, afraid of what his answer might be, if he would even give her one.

The three walked in silence, united in their grief yet each choosing to suffer alone.

oooOOOooo

The team arrived at the gates of Konoha in the early evening. The two ninja standing out the front on guard ran out to meet them, coming to a sudden halt when they saw the stretcher. Pulling themselves together, they saluted Kakashi as he and his team stopped in front of them.

"Welcome back, Kakashi-san," the elder of the two greeted them. His eyes flicked to Naruto, Sakura and the stretcher before returning to the senior ninja. "Do you need us to call a medical team?"

There was a slight pause before Kakashi spoke. "No. Please inform Hokage-sama of our return. I'll report to him directly as soon as we've dealt with our business." The two ninja briefly hesitated, looked at each other, then saluted again, one of them taking off for the Hokage's office as Kakashi's team proceeded through the gates.

Once the three of them were on the other side of the gate, Kakashi stopped and lowered his end of the stretcher to the ground, Naruto following his lead. Turning to face his two remaining students, the teacher studied their faces for a moment before speaking. "Sakura, you should go home from here. Naruto, I'll need your help for just a bit longer, then you can go as well. You should both go and get some rest. We'll probably be given a couple of days off while Hokage-sama decides what to do about-" he hesitated, searching for words before simply settling on "-us. Take it easy while you can. Alright?"

Naruto silently nodded, while Sakura stood unmoving, staring at Sasuke's shrouded body. Sighing quietly, Kakashi leaned down and positioned himself right in front of the young kunoichi's face, staring into her eyes with his own uncovered one. "Go home, Sakura. That's an order." She nodded robotically and turned towards her home without a word.

As they watched her go, Naruto stepped closer to his teacher. "Is Sakura-chan gonna be OK, Kakashi-sensei?" he asked. "She's barely spoken since we left the Country of the Wave. I'm… kinda worried about her."

Kakashi glanced down at Naruto thoughtfully. He'd wondered the same thing himself, not only about Sakura but also about this young ninja who worried for her. His concern was a good sign. Although Naruto had been quiet and depressed since Sasuke's death, Kakashi had seen many ninja lose their friends before, as well as losing them himself. His reaction was both understandable and normal. Kakashi hoped he would have recovered sufficiently in a couple of days- already he was able to think of things other than his grief.

On the other hand, he could just be putting up a brave front. Ultimately, the most important thing was that he didn't start blaming himself for what happened; if he could avoid this then the young ninja would emerge from the ordeal stronger than before. Kakashi wasn't sure about Naruto's feelings in this regard, but he had strong hopes that it would turn out all right.

Sakura, on the other hand... Kakashi could see that she had been very deeply hurt by the loss of Sasuke. Her feelings had clearly gone beyond a girlish crush into genuine love and having Sasuke stolen from her so suddenly and brutally had shaken her to the core. With Sasuke gone, the master ninja knew he had to care for his two remaining students and he couldn't allow Sakura to be ruined by this. She might also recover, but it would probably take some help. Kakashi suspected he couldn't be the one to help her, but hopefully her family or friends could provide the necessary impetus for her to pull herself together.

He realised he had been silent for too long to be reassuring and placed his hand on top of Naruto's head with a smile, ruffling the spiky blond hair. "Don't worry about Sakura, Naruto. She's a strong girl. I'm sure she'll be fine." He bent down to pick up his end of the stretcher. "We have to take Sasuke to have his body prepared for his funeral, then I need to report to Hokage-sama."

"Won't I be needed to report too, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked as he lifted his end. "I mean, I fought too and I was with Sasuke when-" he paused, took a deep breath and forced the words out. "-when he... died." Naruto was torn between wanting to let everything inside him out in a rush and wanting to forget everything for the rest of his life, and his head was starting to ache.

Kakashi started walking again. "Naruto, if you're needed for anything then you'll be summoned. In the meantime, you WILL get some rest." The boy started to say something, then paused and Kakashi looked back to give him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, I can guarantee you're not going to be disciplined. Now let's go. I musn't keep Hokage-sama waiting."

oooOOOooo

The funeral service for Uchiha Sasuke was held in the afternoon the next day. The weather was almost disturbingly sunny, but a cloud of sadness hung over all present. It was not a large event, but for a young man with no remaining family there was a considerable turnout.

As well as his two teammates, all of Sasuke's former classmates came to pay their respects to the first of their number to die in the line of duty; Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji were among those who stood beside Naruto in respectful silence. Yamanaka Ino and the other girls from the class wept openly; Sakura remained silent with a single tear tracing down her cheek and her eyes as lifeless as those of a corpse. Hyuuga Hinata stood with her two teammates, her white eyes damp, but also filled with concern for Naruto, who had not raised his head or spoken a word since arriving for the service.

The jounin team leaders were also present- Kakashi, Kurenai-sensei, Asuma-sensei and a tall jounin in green with a bowl-cut who the genin did not recognise. He stood next to Kakashi, apparently trying desperately to keep himself from crying. Iruka-sensei was there as well, looking years older than he had only a few days before. Even the third Hokage attended to deliver a brief memorial oration. Although this duty tore at the old ninja's heart, he spoke calmly of the nobility of Uchiha Sasuke's sacrifice and the heroism in dying for the success of his mission. The Third Hokage had delivered many similar eulogies in his long time as the leader of Konoha, including at the funerals of his predecessor the Second and his own intended successor the Fourth, but rarely had he felt the weight of his words so strongly as he did now.

After all assembled had laid their flowers before their dead comrade's picture, the ninja dispersed slowly, in groups or on their own. Kakashi began talking to the jounin in green, while Asuma led his genin team off towards the school. Naruto and Sakura both headed off in different directions, Naruto towards the training grounds and Sakura towards her home, neither speaking to anyone.

Hinata watched Naruto's departure with trepidation. She could see the sorrow in his step, totally lacking its usual energy. The young kunoichi took a few faltering paces after Naruto, struggling to find the courage to go and offer him comfort in his grief. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself and was just about to start after him when a hand fell on her shoulder, causing her to jump. She turned, reflexively straightening up when she saw who was behind her. "Sorry Hinata, I didn't mean to startle you," Iruka-sensei apologised to her. "I just wanted to ask if you'd seen where Naruto went? I wanted to talk to him, but when I looked around he was already gone."

Hinata stared at him, feeling her resolve melting like a cube of sugar in the rain. "Umm, I think he was going to the training grounds." she mumbled, pointing in the direction Naruto had departed. Iruka-sensei thanked her briefly and took off after him. The young girl gave a small resigned sigh and went to join her teammates.

oooOOOooo

Before the funeral, Haruno Sakura hadn't left her room since the return to Konoha. On arriving back home she had resisted the urge to throw herself weeping into her mother's arms, instead giving a brief greeting and retiring up the stairs to her bedroom. Her mother had brought her meals up to her -Sakura had picked at them without much appetite- but couldn't coax her into talking about what was bothering her. No matter what she asked, her daughter had denied that anything had happened, even as she spent all day curled up on her bed.

Then the notification for the funeral had been delivered and her mother had stopped asking questions. Sakura had roused herself from her stupor to attend, refusing her mother's offer to accompany her. Mrs Haruno was becoming frantic with worry about her daughter's state, but had no idea what she could do to snap her out of it.

Sakura had stood silently during the memorial service. She deliberately kept herself apart from both Naruto and Kakashi-sensei, unable to deal with them right now. Although she appeared unmoved, her heart had frozen in her chest as Konoha said its final farewell to the one she loved. Only the tear on her cheek had betrayed her grief. After the service ended she had started for home, nothing in her mind except returning to her solitude. She spoke to no-one, didn't even look them as she trudged through the streets of Konoha.

She didn't even react to the sound of running footsteps behind her, but suddenly she was grabbed violently by the shoulder and spun around so fast she nearly fell over. Sakura's eyes widened as they stared into the angry, opaque eyes of Yamanaka Ino. The two had been friends since they were children, as well as rivals ever since Sakura had told Ino of her feelings for Sasuke, but now Sakura quailed at the sight of the rage on Ino's face.

There was a tenuous moment of stillness, then Ino released her hold on Sakura and slapped her across the face, hard enough to knock her to the ground. Too shocked to be angry, Sakura held her hand to her throbbing cheek as she shakily pushed herself into a sitting position and looked up at Ino. The other kunoichi was clenching her fist and visibly trembling with anger as fresh tears formed in her eyes. The tension filled the air as Ino gathered herself to speak.

"Why?!" she yelled at Sakura. "Why did _you_ get to be with him? Why did you let him die? Why, when you had what I wanted so badly, did you let it go so easily?" Now shaking with unsupressed fury, Ino grabbed Sakura by her collar and hauled her to her feet, the damp blue eyes boring accusingly into hers.

Sakura stared back, the accusations ringing in her ears and echoing through her head. Why HAD she let Sasuke go so easily? During the fight on the bridge, she had done nothing to help him in his battle. In fact, throughout the entire mission she'd done virtually nothing at all, always relying on Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi-sensei. Certainly she'd been ordered by Kakashi-sensei to protect Tazuna-san during the mission, but this had ultimately amounted to nothing more than keeping out of the way.

She had let Sasuke die.

She'd been a naive little girl. She'd believed that if she just sat and waited, Sasuke could defeat anyone and come back to her and they'd be able to stay together. Tears filled Sakura's eyes as she realized the true extent of her helplessness and she sagged in Ino's grip. The other kunoichi released her and Sakura fell to her knees, burying her face in her hands, her body wracked with sobs. Ino stood over the weeping girl, her anger twisting towards contempt.

"So that's it? You don't have any explanation? No excuses?" Ino asked, her voice heavy with condemnation. When Sakura still did not reply, the other girl spoke again. "Now that I think of it, I really shouldn't blame you for letting Sasuke die." She bent down and gripped Sakura by the chin, forcing her head up to make eye contact. A note of pure malice entered her tone. "You're too weak to be a ninja. You always have been."

She let go of Sakura, but the other girl was frozen in place, staring up at Ino in shock. "Even when we were kids, you've always needed me to look out for you, so I should have expected you'd let Sasuke down when he needed it. I hope you've learned your lesson now. So I don't suppose you'll be needing THIS anymore."

Ino's hand closed around Sakura's Konoha forehead protector, tied as always across the top of her head. Before the stunned girl could protest, Ino ripped it off, throwing Sakura's hair into disarray. She studied it for a moment, holding it up to inspect it closely. "Not a mark on it." Ino smirked. "I suppose I'll just return this to Iruka-sensei. He can probably give it to some other kid in the acadamy, one who's actually capable of becoming a ninja." She watched Sakura for a moment, waiting for a reaction, but Sakura didn't move. Ino sighed inwardly and turned her back on the other girl.

Sakura's entire body trembled with shock and shame, tears overflowing her eyes and spilling onto the ground as memories of her weakness continued to assail her. She remembered when the two ninja had attacked shortly after they'd left Konoha and Sasuke had unhesitatingly jumped between her and them. She remembered how Sasuke had been trapped in the circle of ice mirrors and she hadn't moved from Tazuna's side to help him, leaving Naruto to go to his aid. She remembered how Sasuke had teamed up with Naruto to free Kakashi-sensei from Momochi Zabuza's hydro prison, while she had only been able to watch in awe at their strength.

She remembered how Naruto had suicidally charged at Zabuza -a man who could kill him with a blow- just so he could recover his forehead protector. Naruto hadn't given up. He hadn't let anyone trample on his pride.

The attack came with no warning. Ino had just started to walk away when she was swept off her feet. Sakura's sweeping kick scythed the blonde's legs from under her and as she completed the spinning motion she launched herself at the other girl. Even before her opponent's body had hit the ground, Sakura was already on her. She tackled Ino in mid-air, pinning the shocked girl's arms behind her and bearing her to the ground. Although taken by surprise Ino recovered quickly, but it was too late to escape Sakura's grip. It might have ended there, but Sakura wasn't interested in maintaining the pin; she desperately scrabbled for her protector, still clenched in her opponent's fist and Ino used the momentary lapse to break free, kicking her attacker away as she rolled to her feet.

The two kunoichi faced each other. Sakura's eyes were still wet with tears but burned with a fighting fury Ino had never seen in them before. Those burning eyes were fixed on the Konoha forehead protector Ino held in her right hand. Sakura tensed as she prepared to attack again and Ino smiled to herself. "You want this back, forehead-girl?" she taunted Sakura, using the insult she'd always hated so much. "Come and get it." Tucking the cloth-bound plate into her belt, Ino dropped into a combat stance and prepared to fight.

oooOOOooo

Naruto stood in front of the memorial stone in the middle of training area three, staring at the long list of names- the names of ninjas who had died in the line of duty. He recalled the time only a matter of weeks earlier when he, Sasuke and Sakura had come out here with Kakashi-sensei on their first training exercise. Kakashi had told them about this stone, which bore the names of the dead heroes of Konoha.

Newly carved at the bottom of the long list of names was 'Uchiha Sasuke'. Naruto stared at the name, his feelings boiling and burning inside of him, as if he'd swallowed molten lead.

The young ninja sensed somebody coming up behind him. Turning to see who it was, he saw Iruka-sensei and felt shame wash over him. The scar-faced chuunin had been devastated when he had heard of the death of one of his students and Naruto could only lay the blame for his mentor's pain on himself. Just as he started to slink off, his old teacher called out to him and reluctantly turned back to face him.

"Naruto," Iruka forced a smile onto his face as he greeted his former student. The best the boy could generate in return was a weak half-smile before he was forced to look away, unable to meet the man's gaze. Discouraged, Iruka pressed on regardless. "I was just coming to make sure you were OK."

Now Naruto did look at Iruka and the smile on his face was unmistakably bitter. "Oh sure, Iruka-sensei, _I'm_ OK. Perfectly alive and breathing and not at all dead in the ground from giving my life to protect some weakling."

Iruka flinched at the boy's harsh words. The self-loathing in Naruto's voice was painful to hear from the boy who had always brimmed with self-confidence. Taking a deep breath he walked up to stand next to Naruto, looking down at the memorial. This was going to be difficult. One poorly-chosen word could ruin everything.

"Naruto." The boy looked up at him, his expression pained. Iruka met his gaze steadily. "Why are you blaming yourself for Sasuke's death? I know you must have fought with everything you had. Could you have done any more?"

Naruto looked away again and there was a long pause before he answered. "I… I don't know, Iruka-sensei," he said in a voice that seemed on the edge of breaking. Iruka started in surprise; that wasn't the answer he'd been expecting. "I thought I'd done everything I could, but… it wasn't enough. _It wasn't enough…"_ His voice choked off as tears began to appear in the corners of his eyes. Naruto swallowed and continued shakily. "But then, after Sasuke…" he hesitated again briefly, "…then _after_ that I somehow beat that guy Haku on my own and I don't even know how I did it! So why… why did Sasuke have to die to protect _me?"_

For a moment Iruka didn't know what to say. He could understand what Naruto was going through, the pain of loss and the guilt of survival. It was something almost all ninja went through sooner or later, but these days it rarely happened when they were still this young. He also understood what really ate at the boy, the feeling that, by surviving where a stronger ninja had died, he had failed not only Sasuke but also himself.

"Naruto." The chuunin spoke in a firm level voice and his student turned to look at him with eyes brimming with tears. "Would you have died to save Sasuke if the positions had been reversed?"

Naruto immediately opened his mouth to answer, then hesitated. Iruka continued to look at him, encouraging him to take his time. "I…" The boy started to speak, then stopped and lowered his head to stare at the ground. There was a long silence as he lifted his face again, raising his gaze to the memorial stone in front of him, then he turned back to Iruka and swallowed. "Yes. I would have."

Iruka nodded evenly. He'd expected as much from Naruto, but he was glad the boy had taken the time to think about it carefully, giving the question the weight it deserved, rather than answering hastily out of indignation. "Why?"

This time Naruto's answer _was_ indignant. "'Why'?" he spluttered furiously. "What do you mean 'why'? Obviously because I… it's… I…"

He stammered to a halt again as he considered the question more seriously. Iruka decided it would be OK to prod him towards the right answer. "Would you have died to save him because you think he was stronger and deserved to live more than you?" he asked softly.

The boy gave him a shocked look. "What? No, that's not…" he protested. "I mean, I know I said… but I would have died for him because-"

"Because he was your teammate and your friend, is that right Naruto?" the older man supplied. "Because it would have been the right thing to do." There was another pause before Naruto nodded slowly. Iruka smiled slightly. "So to go back to your earlier question: why did Sasuke die to save you?"

Confusion, grief and understanding warred on Naruto's face as he mulled his sensei's words. His eyes turned back to the memorial stone and locked onto his dead teammate's name. Then, unable to take any more, his blue eyes overflowed with tears which dropped to the ground and great wrenching sobs began to wrack his body. Iruka was ready. He laid a comforting hand on the cry boy's shoulder and when Naruto spun towards him and buried his face in his chest Iruka wrapped his arms around him and hugged him, letting the young ninja work out the last of his grief.

Iruka spoke quietly but reassuringly into Naruto's ear as the boy's sobs subsided. "It's OK to mourn Naruto, but not to give up. Sasuke's death was a tragedy, but you mustn't think of your own survival as a mistake. Sasuke wanted you to survive. He made the choice to save you, so it's up to you to acknowledge that and live on to give his sacrifice meaning."

As the last of Naruto's tears finished falling, the boy stepped back and rubbed his eyes with his sleeve. Looking up at Iruka he managed to give him a somewhat shaky smile. "Y- you're right, Iruka-sensei. I-" He swallowed. "I hadn't thought about why Sasuke did what he did. And you're right, it wasn't meaningless. I can't _allow_ it to be meaningless." Naruto raised his head up proudly and his smile widened, regaining some of its old confidence. "I'm going to make Sasuke the hero who saved the life of the greatest Hokage Konoha has ever seen. Wherever he is now, he'll be able to be proud of what he died for and I'll make up for all the things he never got to do."

Greatly relieved, Iruka returned his old student's smile and patted him on the head, ruffling his hair affectionately. "That's the spirit, Naruto! When you become Hokage that'll make him –and me- proud of you!" He chuckled. "I tell you what, I'll buy you a bowl of Ichiraku for lunch and you tell me all about your heroic mission."

Naruto's face lit up like the sun. "All right!" he yelled excitedly, punching the air. "You're the best, Iruka-sensei!"

Genin and chuunin started walking together in the direction of Naruto's favourite eating place, Naruto a few steps behind Iruka, but just as he was about to leave the training grounds he turned back to cast one final glance at the memorial stone sitting in the middle of the area. He clenched his fist, but now his expression was one of steely determination.

"I will never forget, Sasuke. Thank you."

oooOOOooo

Yamanaka Ino lay sprawled on the ground, swimming in and out of consciousness. She was barely aware of her victorious opponent dragging the forehead protector from her belt and tying it back in its rightful place atop a head of pink hair. The fight had been so short and brutal that Ino was wondering if she hadn't been tricked by a jounin in disguise. She didn't know if Sakura had been training behind her back, or if it was just the strength of pure fury, but Sakura had overcome her within seconds, smashing any fight from her body with brutal taijutsu that made a mockery of her defense. The few blows she'd managed to land hadn't even made her opponent flinch. Suddenly the dazed kunoichi was hauled off the ground by her collar and she looked muzzily up into the angry face of Haruno Sakura.

"I got it back, Ino-pig," Sakura hissed furiously. "If you're going to lecture me about who's worthy of being a ninja, make sure you're stronger than me first!" She dropped Ino again, the back of her head striking the ground painfully. Sakura straightened up, clenching her fist so tightly Ino swore she could hear the bones starting to pop. "If I was weak or I made a mistake, I'll atone for it. I'll make up for it by not failing again. And you won't _ever_ be able to talk down to me like that again! So remember that." Adjusting the protector on her head slightly, the victorious kunoichi turned and stalked away, leaving her defeated opponent in a crumpled heap.

Ino was just pushing herself up into a sitting position when Asuma-sensei, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Chouji dropped down to land in front of her. Shikamaru squatted down beside her and rolled his eyes. "You said you were just going to talk to Sakura for a minute, Ino. Instead she beat the living hell out of you. Handled that one well, didn't you?"

The blonde scowled as she rubbed her aching head. "You guys were watching, weren't you? I told you I was only going to be a few minutes, why didn't you mind your own business?" She started to get up when a sudden wave of dizziness made her stumble. Chouji caught her by the elbow and steadied her. "Come to think of it, if you were watching then why didn't you help me?" she complained.

"We would have," Chouji muttered apologetically, "but Asuma-sensei told us to wait. I don't know why." Asuma just grinned. "Although it was over so fast I don't think we could have done anything anyway."

"I know why," Shikamaru put in, offhandedly. "So, things went exactly according to plan, right Ino?" There was a pause as Ino stared at her teammate in mute astonishment. Then she smiled and looked down the road in the direction Sakura had departed. While she certainly hadn't planned on things going exactly as they did, the kunoichi knew her old friend was going to be alright now.

"Yeah, you're right. That was absolutely perfect."

oooOOOooo

Naruto was just starting his second bowl of Ichiraku's peerless ramen when to both his and Iruka-sensei's surprise they were joined by, of all people, Kakashi-sensei. Sitting down beside Naruto and ordering a bowl of his own, the jounin seemed to be his usual easygoing self, but Naruto found it hard to find the words to say to his master.

"Naruto, are you okay now?" The young ninja looked up from his bowl at the sound of Kakashi's voice and saw, for the first time, the concern in his expression. It was a simple question, but Naruto understood fully what Kakashi meant by it and managed a grin.

"I'm okay, Kakashi-sensei. Iruka-sensei talked to me about it and I feel a lot better now." Pulling noodles into his mouth with his chopsticks, Naruto chewed, swallowed and went on. "I know what I need to do now. You don't have to worry about me."

Kakashi smiled with relief. "That's good to hear. Naruto, tomorrow I need you and Sakura to meet me down at training area three again at eight in the morning. I've got some important news for the two of you." He looked at Iruka over the top of Naruto's head and gave him a single nod. Iruka smiled and acknowledged the senior ninja's gratitude with a casual salute.

Kakashi's order had just been put in front of him as Naruto finished his second. Draining the broth from the bottom, Naruto put the bowl down and narrowed his eyes as he remembered something important. "Kakashi-sensei, I need to ask you something," he asked, his voice dead-serious. Kakashi was just reaching for his chopsticks, but the tone of his student's voice made him pause. Naruto took a deep breath and looked directly into his master's single eye.

"Tell me... about Sasuke's brother."

TO BE CONTINUED…

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

This is my second published fanfic (after my one-shot 'The Dream Wedding') but it's actually the _first_ one I ever wrote. Believe it or not, I actually wrote this chapter in _2007._ At the time I was hoping to write a few chapters in advance before publishing any to try and reduce the delay between chapter releases and give me some breathing room to allow for writer's block and other delays, but I actually hit a big one right after I started chapter 2 and stalled completely. About 4 years later, at Christmas 2011, I randomly started writing again just to kill some time, working on a later chapter I'd really been looking forward to writing (chapter 3 in fact). It basically flowed from my pen (keyboard, whatever) and motivated me to go back and redo this first chapter. Although I think my writing style has drastically improved since I wrote this chapter it's basically the same story- I just cleaned it up and reedited it a bit. The one exception was the scene between Naruto and Iruka- I wasn't at all happy with the initial version of that and deleted and rewrote the entire thing. I nearly stalled out again, getting stuck for AGES on exactly how Iruka should talk Naruto through his grief, but I eventually had a "eureka!" moment and knocked it over in a rush. Unfortunately, I planned to get several chapters done at once before releasing the first one- then I got stalled on chapter 2. Damn it.

Originally, the story was going to be called 'The Seven Songs of the Ninja', both for the Added Alliterative Appeal and because that was how long my original story concept was. Later I revised this up to 10 chapters, then 12. Then when I revised the concept completely and wrote a new draft I realised this was going to go WAY over 12 chapters, so I changed it. After several iterations, I eventually settled on "the Secret Songs of the Ninja", again for the alliteration.

To get it out of the way now, a few notes about my usage of Japanese: there's nothing I despise more in fanfiction than writers throwing in Gratuitous Japanese just for the hell of it when there are perfectly serviceable english words that do the job a whole lot better (don't say "baka", say "idiot", and _"–teme"_ is NOT a recognised suffix). I use Japanese only where there is no direct english translation, or where I feel the accurate translation sounds clunky. That's why I use suffixes; because there is NO direct translation that properly conveys the subtleties implied by –san, -kun, -chan, -sama etc. I also tend to use the Japanese names for the more commonly used jutsu ("kage bunshin no jutsu", for example) because it's well-known and understood enough that having Naruto shout "shadow clone technique" feels awkward. Original jutsu, however, will _usually_ be in english because having to explain what they mean would be just needless busywork, although I do stick to the word "jutsu" (as you may have already noticed) because it feels more ninja-ish.

In case you were wondering why this fanfic has no character tags, that was a deliberate choice because I feel character tags are somewhat restricting. Naruto and Sakura are the main CHARACTERS, but tagging them would lead people to think they're going to be a couple, which is not the impression I want people to get. I'm not saying there won't BE any romance in this story, but it's not the main focus of the plot- 'Secret Songs' is first and foremost an action adventure drama story, like the original manga so I don't want people reading just because they think it's going to have their favourite pairing in it. I WAS thinking of just tagging it with 'Naruto U." but felt that was kind of redundant, so I just left them blank.

In the original draft of this chapter I had several expanded scenes, including Hinata secretly following Naruto and Iruka to the memorial stone and a full fight scene for Sakura and Ino. Both were eliminated for taking up too much time and not really adding anything to the story.

Every time I write about Naruto going to Ichiraku it gives me a craving for ramen…

NEXT TIME:

An important meeting, a damaged bond renewed, an opportunity missed, a possible new threat and an urgent mission? Looks forward to **Naruto: The Secret Songs of the Ninja chapter 2- The Song of the New Path.**

- Arcane Azmadi


	2. Chapter 2

NARUTO: THE SECRET SONGS OF THE NINJA.

**Disclaimer:** Seriously, what is the point in repeating something you already know and already knew before you even started reading the first chapter? Would ANYONE possibly be naïve enough to believe that I own Naruto? Of course not. You're much more intelligent (not to mention handsome) than that.

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Chapter 2- The Song of the New Path.

It was 7:57 in the morning and the sun was rising on the hidden ninja village of Konoha. Uzumaki Naruto and Haruno Sakura were already waiting at training area three as they'd been instructed to the night before by their instructor, Hatake Kakashi. The time for the meeting was 8, but -as usual- the two had arrived early.

And now they had arrived they were pondering their realisation that Kakashi-sensei would -as usual- be late.

The two young ninja sat apart, facing away from each other. Apart from a cursory greeting when they met, they hadn't said a word. They hadn't spoken to each other in days in fact, ever since they'd left the Country of the Wave. Sakura had been too absorbed in her grief and Naruto too stifled by his guilt for them to talk during the return journey and they hadn't run into each other in the time since. Today however, the air between them was somewhat different.

Naruto was sitting with his back against one of the wooden logs used as shuriken practice targets, humming distractedly to himself. Ever since his talk with Kakashi-sensei the night before his mind had been abuzz with thought. The jounin had been reluctant to answer his questions, but Naruto had pressed him until he knew the full story behind Sasuke's dying words- about Sasuke's traitorous brother Itachi and the massacre of the Uchiha clan. It made his head spin simply thinking about what Sasuke must have been through. Naruto had always thought he'd had a tough life, growing up as an orphaned outcast who everyone despised because of the legacy of the Kyuubi, but he'd channelled his frustration into determination to succeed without letting anything get him down. Now he realised that there were other kinds of suffering that were just as painful. Since he'd never had anything, Naruto had no idea what it would be like to lose everything. He'd never felt the burning desire for revenge which he now understood had driven Sasuke to fight and to excel. Compared to the one person you trusted and believed in most destroying everything -and killing everyone- you ever loved, Naruto's own betrayal by Mizuki seemed like little more than a spiteful prank.

The other thing that had been bothering him was Sakura. He glanced at where she was sitting on a flat-topped tree stump which served as a makeshift seat. Although he was happy to see her more like her old self than she had been in days, he still found himself unable to talk to her. Although it pained him, Naruto was forced to admit that Sakura had loved Sasuke more than he had ever realised. He knew from the moment he'd faced her on the bridge that what had happened would make her suffer even more than he could imagine and the sound of her despairing cries of grief had been like a blade being twisted into his heart. But Naruto knew the two of them were -or had been- part of a three-man genin team. If they were to continue on as ninja then things couldn't remain like this.

As this brought Naruto on to his THIRD concern, which was the one that finally drove him to break the silence."Uh... Sakura-chan?" Sakura didn't look at Naruto, but she did at least slightly incline her head towards him to indicate attention. "What d'you think is gonna happen to us now?" She didn't respond but at least seemed to be listening, so he plunged on. "I mean, we were a three-man team, right? But now-" he faltered briefly before continuing "-there's only two of us. They won't send us on missions like this, will they?" Sakura tilted her head in the other direction, as though contemplating his words. "Will we be split up and put into new teams?" Naruto wondered aloud. "Or maybe..." a nasty thought struck him, "...maybe they'll send us back to the academy!" He shuddered at the thought.

Still Sakura didn't say a word. The silent treatment was starting to make Naruto really nervous. _I wonder if she really hates me now?_ he wondered. _Crap! We'll never be able to work together again if it's gonna be like this all the time._ He gritted his teeth. _If we can't be together any more then maybe they really WILL send me back to the academy! No way!_ Naruto gripped his head between his hands as he began to panic. _Nowaynowaynowaynowaynowaynow a-_

"Good morning you two!" Kakashi's cheerful voice interrupted Naruto's private panic session. Startled, the young ninja looked up to see the Copy-ninja strolling towards them, giving them a languid wave. Naruto and Sakura blinked in surprise as they realized Kakashi-sensei had –for the first time in their entire association with him- actually arrived on time. He slouched to a casual halt in front of them, slipping his hands idly into his pockets. "I've got someone I'd like you to meet."

To their further surprise, the two noted another figure walking a few steps behind their sensei. At the sight of him, their eyes widened. He was definitely one of the most unusual ninja they'd ever seen.

Although he appeared to be roughly the same age as them, the youth was unsually tall, yet lanky to the point that he could almost be described as gangly and his head was topped with a thatch of messy brown hair sticking out above his forehead protector that made Naruto's wild blond spikes look almost neat by comparison. Like all genin he apparently chose his own outfit, but even by ninja standards his clothes were eccentric. He wore a pair nondescript grey pants and jacket similar to Naruto's, albeit in a much more subdued colour, wrapped by countless leather bands and straps that crisscrossed his chest, ran along his arms and twisted around his hips. Numerous pouches hung from these, far more than the average ninja would wear. A large straight metal blade, nearly four feet long with a ring at the end like a giant kunai, was slung on his back like a sword, bringing uncomfortable memories to the two young ninjas' minds of the huge weapon wielded by the late Momochi Zabuza. He gave off a faint metallic jingle with every step he took, as if his pockets were crammed with loose change. But his most striking feature was his eyes. As well as the eyes themselves being slightly wider than normal, his hazel irises were unusually large, each taking up almost the entire surface of the eyeball so that almost none of the scelera could be seen. Combined with his proportionately larger pupils, the effect made him look slightly like a bird of prey.

As Naruto and Sakura stared, the young ninja came to a halt beside Kakashi-sensei and bowed politely with a loud metallic jingling. Now that he was closer, Naruto's eyes widened further as he realized what all the leather straps were for- they were bandoliers. Shuriken were tucked into them in neat overlapping rows which ran all over the newcomer's body. The jingling sound, he also noted, was coming from the pouches hanging from the bandoliers, which they guessed were also full of shuriken. This ninja was a walking arsenal of throwing weaponry.

The two genin both arrived at the same simultaneous conclusion:

_What a weirdo..._

"This is Keiji-kun," Kakashi-sensei introduced the metal-studded eccentric. "He's a genin from last year's graduating class." That made him Sakura and Naruto's senior. The boy bowed again as he greeted them formally.

"Kyoshun Keiji," he introduced himself. His voice was cheerful and he spoke politely. "Pleased to meet you." The genin smiled pleasantly at the two young ninja as Naruto pushed himself from his sitting position to his feet.

_What the heck,_ Naruto thought. _He may look kinda weird, but he seems like a nice guy._ Returning Keiji's smile with a grin of his own he stuck out his hand in a friendly manner. "Uzumaki Naruto. Pleased to meet ya." Keiji nodded and reached out to take Naruto's hand.

He missed.

Naruto blinked in surprise as Keiji's hand closed on empty air about three inches to the left of his own. Totally unfazed by his own mistake, the other boy withdrew his hand and tried again, this time clasping Naruto's now limp hand and shaking it enthusiastically. Kakashi stood back from the exchange with a somewhat bemused expression on his face. Sakura, on the other hand, just looked perplexed as she approached them. Keiji turned to her as she stopped beside him. "Haruno Sakura-san? Pleased to meet you too." Taking the initiative this time, he stuck out his hand in the girl's direction.

A shriek of rage and a noise like a piece of steak being walloped with a tenderizer rang out, followed by a sound like someone upturning a cutlery drawer. Kakashi and Naruto both winced in sympathy.

Sakura stood over Keiji's sprawled form, breathing heavily in fury with her arms crossed protectively across her bosom. With the young man too dazed to apologise, Kakashi decided it was time to intervene before Sakura got too worked up. "Now now, Sakura," he said soothingly, "he didn't mean to do that. Keiji has rather bad eyesight and he was just a little careless." Sakura threw a vicious glare in his direction, causing the hardened jounin to take a step back, raising his hands placatingly, but she took a deep breath and lowered her fists again.

Rubbing his head, Keiji pushed himself upright and climbed to his feet. "Sorry, sorry," he apologised, "my fault. I should know better by now." He brushed down his clothing and gave Naruto and Sakura a sheepish grin. "I was born with, um, 'imbalanced' eyes. I can see distant objects _really_ well, but have a lot of difficulty with anything closer than fifteen feet or so." He gave a resigned shrug and sighed. "Even when things are right in front of me, I basically have to guess where they actually are. It's difficult, but it's about all I can do." He bowed again, apologetically this time. "Sorry about that, Sakura-san. You were about nine inches closer and a few more to the right than I thought." He straightened up and gave an embarrassed smile.

Awkward seconds passed as Naruto and Sakura stared at the young man. Then Naruto couldn't help it any longer and his face split into a grin. He didn't mean to laugh at Keiji's disability, but watching Sakura struggling to maintain her indignant expression in the face of Keiji's guileless innocence, even as a nasty bruise started to darken on his jaw, was just too funny for words. A snort escaped his lips, quickly swelling into open laughter. Keiji's rueful grin widened and he started to chortle as well, evidence of a boy with a good sense of humour. A quiet chuckle even slipped out from behind Kakashi-sensei's mask. Sakura glared at the three males frostily, but a few seconds later her mouth had twitched and curved up into a smile and she let out an small giggle.

Even so, Sakura was the first to stop laughing and by the time the laughter had ceased a few seconds later she'd already been doing some quick thinking. "Um, Kakashi-sensei," she asked hesitantly. "Why have you brought Keiji-san to meet us this morning? Would he possibly be…?" She trailed off helplessly, but Kakashi understood her meaning easily enough.

"Good guess, Sakura," their leader nodded. He clapped his hand on the shoulder of the boy standing next to him. "Keiji here is going to be the third member of Team 7, your new teammate."

"Eh?!" Naruto yelped in surprise. "'New teammate'? You mean… this guy's supposed to replace Sasuke?" Sakura had already drawn this conclusion ahead of Naruto, but her doubt also showed on her face.

Kakashi sighed inwardly. This would probably be the hardest part, getting the two to accept their new partner and work as a team again. "No, Naruto," he explained patiently. "Nobody could ever 'replace' Sasuke and we wouldn't want them to." Somewhat abashed, Naruto nodded his agreement. "But you can't function as a three-man genin team with only the two of you and if you don't complete your training in a genin team you can't be ninja. We have a team that is short one genin; Keiji here is a genin that is short a team. The Hokage approved his assignment yesterday. This will be best for everyone."

Sakura's brow furrowed. "Sensei… why isn't he on a team if he graduated last year? Was he an odd student left over after the teams were formed?" It was certainly possible, she thought. There was no guarantee that the number of graduating students in each year's class would be a multiple of three and she had no idea what happened to any kids left over. Then she noticed a pained look creep across Keiji's face and Kakashi-sensei shifted his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Sakura gave a quiet "oh" as she put two and two together, but didn't say any more.

"That's… something best left for Keiji to explain to you," the jounin answered evasively. "The three of you should take some time to get to know each other while you do some training together. I've got an important meeting with Hokage-sama this morning, so I just needed to introduce you to Keiji first. I'll come and find you again this afternoon. Just consider this free training time, OK?" With that, their leader formed a seal and vanished in a burst of smoke.

Naruto and Sakura stared blankly at the spot the man had occupied only a few seconds before, then turned to look at their new teammate. The boy shrugged helplessly and there was another awkward moment of silence. Then Naruto stepped forward and clapped a friendly hand on Keiji's shoulder. "C'mon Keiji. Let's go do some training."

The awkwardness vanished from Keiji's face and he smiled with relief at this initial show of acceptance. Naruto returned the grin without reservation. Even if the cause their meeting was tragic, it was always a good thing to meet new friends, especially ones who didn't seem to hold his circumstances against him. The two boys turned to the third member of their team. "Let's go, Sakura-chan." Naruto invited her cheerfully.

As the girl visibly hesitated, Naruto felt his heart sink. You didn't have to be a master interrogator to see her reluctance to accompany him, or a trained psychologist to work out why. Whether it was because of him or because of their new teammate, Sakura didn't want to go with them. A feeling of helplessness started to rise in him as he realised he didn't know how to deal with this. The only things he could think of to say were the wrong things.

"Sakura-san?" Just when Naruto was about to succumb to panic, Keiji spoke up. "I'd like the opportunity to train together with the two of you." He smiled wanly. "I haven't worked with a team since… well, it's been a while now and I want to see how we can work together."

Sakura was trapped and she knew it. Intentionally or not, Keiji had phrased his invitation in a way that left her with no way out other than openly refusing to work with her new teammates- and that was tantamount to quitting as a ninja. The young kunoichi sighed internally. She didn't even know where this reluctance was coming from- she thought she'd worked everything out yesterday after her clash with Ino, but apparently there were still some things she hadn't quite straightened out yet.

Looking up at the boys again, she gave them a weak smile. "OK then," she answered. "What shall we do first?"

Keiji shrugged. "I don't mind, really. Naruto-kun, what would you prefer to do?"

The blond frowned and folded his arms while he thought. "Hmm… well normally when I'm training on my own I warm up with some practice at the target range. How does that sound to you, Keiji?"

The older boy's face lit up with a smile. "That suits me just fine, Naruto-kun! Shuriken practice happens to be my favourite form of training."

Sakura looked him up and down again. Judging from her best estimates of the contents of all his bandoliers and pouches, Keiji must have been carrying in excess of two hundred shuriken on his person. "Really?" she deadpanned.

oooOOOooo

As usual, Kakashi was the last to arrive at the Hokage's office, although not too late- even the infamous Copy-ninja wouldn't dare keep the leader of Konoha waiting more than a few minutes. All the other jounin team leaders as well as a number of administrative chuunin and special jounin were already waiting when he arrived. Kakashi gave the room a general nod of greeting as he entered and moved over to stand by the other rookie team leaders, Yuuhi Kurenai and the Hokage's son, Sarutobi Asuma. "Sorry I'm late, Hokage-sama," he apologised shortly. This really wasn't the time for one of his patented ridiculous excuses so he left it at that and waited for the leader of Konoha to speak.

Sarutobi Hiruzen gave Kakashi a quick nod of acknowledgement before leaning forward in his chair to address the room at large. "I'm sure most of you know what I've called you all here for. It should be obvious just from looking at who I've called."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "It's that time again already, is it?"

"The word has already been sent to the other villages," Shiranui Genma put in, talking around the ever-present senbon in his mouth. "We're already seeing the first teams start to arrive."

The Hokage nodded and took his pipe out of his mouth. Tapping the last few glowing embers out into his ashtray he set it aside and folded his hands together. "Within the next few days I will formally announce the beginning of the Chuunin Exam." He nodded in the direction of the rookie team teachers. "I will now hear nominations for entering teams, starting with this year's rookies."

Kakashi kept his face expressionless under his mask as he stepped forward. "The Kakashi-led Team 7, consisting of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Kyoshun Keiji… I nominate them to take part in the Chuunin Exam under the name of Hatake Kakashi."

Kakashi wasn't entirely surprised to hear several indrawn breaths and some hushed comments from the others behind him. Beside him, Kurenai and Asuma were both staring at him in what appeared to be shock. Even the Hokage had his eyes locked on Kakashi from under furrowed brows. It was Kurenai's turn next, but she seemed to have been struck speechless. "Kurenai…?" he prompted her.

She started out of her reverie. "Uh… oh! Um… The Kurenai-led Team 8, consisting of Inu-"

"Hold on!" someone shouted from the crowd behind them. Surprised at the interruption, the two jounin turned to see Iruka-sensei shoving his way through the crowd. The chuunin was glaring at Kakashi. "Kakashi, what do you think you're doing? You can't enter them in the chuunin exam!"

Kakashi raked the younger man with his single eye, but Iruka did not flinch. The jounin had a healthy regard for the academy instructor's competence and owed him for helping Naruto the day before, but he needed to know when to mind his own business. "And why shouldn't I enter them?" he challenged Iruka coldly. "It'll be a good experience for them and I believe they have the ability to make it through. They meet the requirements- Naruto and Sakura have completed seventeen D-ranked missions each and one C-ranked mission that was subsequently upgraded to A-rank and Keji has twenty-six Ds and three Cs on his record."

Iruka gritted his teeth his teeth. "Are you mad, Kakashi? Naruto and Sakura have only just met their new teammate _today._ How can you expect them to survive something as dangerous as the Chuunin Exam with someone they've never worked with before?" The angry chuunin strode closer, staring Kakashi boldly in the face. "And while I'm not questioning Keiji's abilities, in case you've forgotten the third and final of those C-ranked missions he has on his record is the one where his _previous_ jounin sensei overestimated what his team could handle and got himself and both of Keiji's teammates killed! Are you _really_ that eager to make a similar mistake so quickly?"

That touched a nerve. Kakashi struggled to keep his voice level, but couldn't prevent himself from snapping at the younger man. "Iruka! While I appreciate your concern, you should stay out of this. They're not your students any more, they're my soldiers, under _my _command and if I-"

"Kakashi!" This time the interruption came from the Hokage, causing the silver-haired ninja to snap his mouth shut immediately. The old man was glaring at him now from under the brim of his conical hat. "I'm sorry to say this, but Iruka is right. The Chuunin Exam is not something to be undertaken lightly, nor is it something that can be passed with improvised teamwork." The old man shook his head regretfully, his expression softening somewhat. "I'm going to have to reject your nomination until the three of them have completed at least eight missions _together. _They'll have to wait until the next one for their chance."

There was complete silence in the room. This was unprecedented. Kakashi couldn't believe what he was hearing. He took a tentative step towards the leader of Konoha. "But… Hokage-sama, I really do think that-"

"I'm sorry, Kakashi," the old man cut him off again. "To be completely blunt, your invitation to this meeting was really only meant as a formality. No-one expected you to nominate your team under these circumstances. I know you're sure that this is in their best interests, but I cannot agree. Again, I'm sorry."

There was a long pause. No-one made a sound. Kakashi stared at the old man with his one good eye, mixed emotions boiling inside of him, then he sagged slightly. "Very well, Hokage-sama. If you think so then you're probably right." He glanced sideways again. "Sorry about that, Iruka-sensei."

The younger man gave him a startled look, then smiled apologetically. "No, it's OK Kakashi-sensei. I know you mean well for them. But… no-one can be right all the time."

The Hokage nodded as he finished refilling pipe with tobacco and fumbled for a match. "Very well then. Kurenai, if you would pick up from where you left off?"

oooOOOooo

The new Team 7 walked away from the training grounds back towards Konoha in a thoughtful mood. It had certainly been an _interesting_ training session.

Having graduated from the academy a year after him, Naruto and Sakura used the session to evaluate Keiji's capabilities, as well as to familiarise him with their own skills. They'd started by practicing with their kunai and shuriken, using the logs at the training ground as targets. And then the two rookies learned the first thing about their new teammate: he was the best shuriken-user they'd ever seen. And that wasn't restricted to just their age bracket either.

Standard practice range began at ten paces from the target, which was where Naruto and Sakura started. Keiji started at twenty paces and rapidly increased the distance as the training went on. Naruto had watched in unreserved awe as the older boy had alternately worked at improving his range, speed and accuracy. First he continued increasing his range until he was hitting the target from so far back his teammates had to shout for him to hear them. Then he would square up to the target and fire off rapid continuous barrages of shuriken, his hands moving in a blur that left his target studded with more steel than Naruto could count in only a matter of seconds. Finally he would work on his precision, aiming more deliberately to mark a straight line down the middle of the target so precise that it was as if the weapons had been carefully nailed into it by hand. It was practically supernatural. Keiji had mentioned that the postive side of his "imbalanced" vision was exceptionally good sight at a distance, but even discounting that he also seemed to have an inherent instinct for aiming his shuriken, taking wind and drop distance into account and hurling them with such force and precision that he could strike with killing force at distances where most ninjas would struggle even to find the range. He could even throw them in wide, curving arcs that swung through the air like flights of banking swallows, striking the targets from a far wider range of angles than a normal ninja could even attempt. Shurikenjutsu was a basic part of every ninja's training, but most only thought of shuriken as tools to be used together with the other arts of taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu. Keiji had taken it to a whole different level that most shinobi weren't even aware _existed._

Surprisingly, Keiji did not use kunai, nor any other kind of weapon. He specialised in shuriken to the exclusion of everything else. In fact, Naruto had persuaded him to have a throw with one of his kunai just for the hell of it and his aim with it had been no better than Naruto's. Keiji explained it as being because of the completely different weighting and aerodynamics of kunai- with all the training he'd put in with shuriken, trying to use another weapon was like a right-handed person trying to write with their left hand (although being ambidexterous himself, he admitted the simile wasn't exactly the most appropriate).

For his grand finale, the boy had drawn the huge weapon from his back and unfolded it. As the giant blade divided into four, Naruto realised it was a massively oversized, straight-edged version of the shadow windmill Sasuke had used in the first clash with Zabuza. Fully unfolded, the weapon was even bigger than Keiji was tall and Naruto couldn't even see how the lanky boy could even manage to lift it.

But lift it he did, winding up, spinning around and hurling the weapon over his head with startling force. The blade roared through the air and his two teammates winced as it smashed into the log on the right, splitting it nearly in two along the diagonal.

Keiji frowned as he jogged up to his new friends. Naruto picked up his jaw from the ground. "That was amazing!" he burst out. "I can't believe you were able to throw something that big so easily!" Sakura nodded mutely, momentarily lost for words.

The older genin only shook his head regretfully. "No, I still need a lot more practice," he admitted.

Naruto blinked. "Why would you need more practice?" he protested, pointing to the remains of the target. "Anything you hit like that won't be coming back for more!"

"Yes," Keiji replied, his expression rueful, "but I was aiming for the target on the left."

Sakura looked at the targets. In that case, Keiji had missed his target by at least a dozen feet. While it was still an impressive trick, it was also more than a little worrying. She fervently hoped that he practiced with the weapon, which he called a 'Deathwind Shuriken', a bit more before he tried to use it on a mission. Preferably when she was a long way away.

After that, Naruto suggested they do some taijutsu practice. Keiji had seemed less than enthusiastic about it, but had reluctantly agreed. And it was then that they learned the _second_ thing about their new teammate: his taijutsu was _awful._

Naruto had opened his first bout with Keiji enthusiastically, going in full force, only to find that he was able to overwhelm his opponent with surprisingly little effort. Keiji exaggerated his blocks and dodges, making it hard for him to counter and his strikes were simultaneously linear and badly aimed. He fought with the awkwardness of someone who hoped never to be forced into hand-to-hand and Naruto suspected that if an opponent ever managed to make it through the barrage of shuriken his teammate could lay down, Keiji would probably be in for a world of hurt.

Keiji had done his best to bear the experience stoically, but Naruto could tell he was embarassed by his performance. At the start of the fight he'd made with a few cheerful, good-natured jibes at Keiji's mistakes, but as the extent of the boy's inability had become increasingly obvious these had quickly tailed off into an awkward silence. After Naruto had knocked his opponent on his butt for the seventh time in a row, he hadn't been able to take it any longer and had suggested they take a break, to which Keiji had gratefully agreed.

Sakura hadn't shown any interest in taking Keiji's place so the three genin decided to head back into Konoha to get some morning tea. As the three of them walked down the road back towards the centre of the village, Keiji and Naruto got to know a bit more about each other. On the other hand, walking a few steps behind them, Sakura remained stubbornly silent.

"No, it's not a bloodline limit," Keiji explained. "It's just a unique deformity in my eyes, optic nerves and brain. I can't 'turn it off', it doesn't use chakra, it's just the way my body is. The doctor who diagnosed me said my eyes are actually more like those of a bird of prey, only they can't focus properly to compensate for things closer to me."

"Wow, that's weird," Naruto said thoughtfully. Behind him Sakura winced at his tactlessness. Stepping in front of Keiji and turning on his heel, the blond continued walking backwards while he held up his hand about six inches from his teammate's nose. "So, how many fingers am I holding up?"

Keiji sighed. "Three, Naruto-kun," he replied patiently. "I'm not _that_ bad." Naruto had the good grace to look embarassed and stepped back to keep walking beside the myopic boy.

"Must be hard to get by," he commented. "Do you bump into things a lot?"

This time his appalling lack of tact drew a vicious glare from Sakura, but Naruto didn't notice. Keiji was starting to get used to it, though. "No," he answered. "I don't have any problems getting around _stationary_ objects. If I can see them from a distance I can mark their positions relative to myself so I know where they are even when I get closer to them." He shrugged. "It's something I had to train myself to do when I entered the academy. It's only _moving_ objects, like people, that I have trouble with." His two teammates digested this information. That was a pretty useful skill, actually.

"So… do you…" Naruto hesitated as he approached the subject, one he personally found somewhat awkward. "Do you live with your parents?"

Keiji's steps faltered for a moment. "No." Recovering he continued walking, his voice calm and level. "I'm an orphan. My mother died when I was a baby and my father passed away about four years ago. Since I was already over half-way through my academy studies, I was just made a ward of the village until graduation and I've been living alone since then."

"Oh…" Naruto's voice trailed off and Sakura gave Keiji a sympathetic look. Then the blond suddenly smiled, sadly but sincerely. "You're kind of like me, then. I've been without parents for as long as I can remember. I don't even know who they were."

This time Keiji did stop and looked his teammate in the face. There was an awkward moment of silence, then the boy warmly returned Naruto's smile. Keiji put his hand companiably on Naruto's shoulder, missing only twice before connecting and continued walking. After a pause, Naruto and Sakura followed him. Nothing more really needed to be said.

oooOOOooo

By the time lunchtime rolled around they were still waiting on Kakashi. Naruto suggested they go to Ichiraku together to eat, but Sakura had finally had enough and begged her leave. Naruto sighed inwardly as he watched her depart. He hadn't been imagining it after all; Sakura was definitely trying to avoid him. The more Naruto thought about it, the worse things between them seemed. He couldn't blame her for not entirely trusting him considering the circumstances surrounding Sasuke's death, but he'd been hoping she'd be pragmatic enough to put any personal feelings aside enough for them to at least work together.

At least Keiji had been happy to go with him. To his pleasant surprise, his new teammate was also fond of ramen and had even been to Ichiraku more than a few times in the past. Teuchi greeted the pair of them cheerfully, surprised to discover that two of his customers were now on the same team together. He took their orders as the boys settled down to chat.

"So," Naruto started as a steaming bowl of chashu ramen was placed in front of him. "I was wondering why you didn't have a team until today?" He took a pair of chopsticks from the jar in front of him and separated them with practiced ease. "Kakashi-sensei said it was something you should tell us yourself."

Keiji flinched slightly at Naruto's tactless but innocent question. He'd known that he'd have to address this eventually, but he was a little surprised that Naruto hadn't at least picked up on the fact that it was a rather sensitive topic for him. Still, by now he was starting to get used to the fact that reading the signs of social interaction wasn't exactly his new teammate's strong suit.

Stirring his ramen absently with his chopsticks, Keiji wondered where to start. Might as well get straight to the point. "My old team was wiped out," he said bluntly. Naruto froze, noodles hanging from his mouth. "We'd just completed our third C-ranked mission in a town called Kikone, about three days travel from Konoha. The mission had been easy, we just had to catch some vandals who our client suspected had been hired by a business rival to sabotage the construction of his new trading house at night. He didn't even need us to deal with the rival, just catch the men before they could demolish the site again." Keiji stopped to scoop some noodles into his own mouth, snapping Naruto out of his shocked state. Slurping up the ramen still dangling from his lips, he found his own appetite for once unusually diminished and set his chopsticks down to give the other boy his full attention. "We caught them easily. Hagimura-sensei positioned me in my usual lookout position, set an ambush at the site with Mio-chan and Shinji-kun and the men walked right into it. They weren't expecting ninja, even if we were just genin, we just rounded them up no problems and delivered them to the local authorities."

Keiji paused and had a sip of water. "After that, we all went back to the inn we were staying at for the rest of the night. In the small hours of the morning we were woken up by a disturbance coming from outside…"

oooOOOooo

_Keiji jerked awake as a scream shattered the silence of the early morning. Throwing off the bedclothes, he sat up, his ninja instincts burning, his ears listening for any further clues as to what was happening. On the other side of the room he shared with Kamura Shinji, he heard his teammate moving as well and a second later the room was lit up as Shinji found the light switch by the door._

_The two genin looked at each other. In accordance with their sensei's orders, they were sleeping still mostly dressed. Hagimura-sensei had insisted that in the aftermath of any mission that might provoke a possible retaliation the team should remain ready for action for at least the first day. From the sounds of things, with more terrified screaming echoing through the night, that may have been a wise precaution._

_Without a word, the two boys slipped out of bed and readied themselves for the possibility of combat. Keiji shucked on his jacket, zipped it up and began strapping his bandoliers into place as quickly as he could, while Shinji slung the scabbard of his _ninja-to_ across his back and slipped his armoured vambrace onto his left arm. Before they'd finished there was a banging on the door of their room. "Boys, get out here," Hagimura Tetsuro commanded them through the door. "Something's going on outside. We should check it out."_

_Thirty seconds later the members of Team 5 were all standing outside the inn. Rather than dying away, the panicked screaming and cries of confusion had only spread further and the streets were rapidly filling with confused, distressed civilians, milling about under the uncertain illumination of the overhead street lights._

_Hagimura-sensei, a stocky, humourless jounin with a neatly-trimmed beard and moustache, pointed down the street towards the large, traditional-looking manor building in its own compound near the town square. "By my estimation, the source of the screaming is the mayor's manor. If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say it's an assassination attempt- and not a very subtle one. It sounds like the perpetrators are just butchering everyone in the entire household. We have to do something."_

_Keiji exchanged worried glances with his two teammates. Shinji's expression was a mixture of fear and exhilaration, eager for more action in the wake of their too-easy mission earlier that night. Mio, on the other hand, looked perturbed. Her eyes –one jade green, the other sapphire blue- met Keiji's and she bit her lip. Keiji had been friends with Hirotsu Mio ever since they'd first started at the academy together more than six years ago and she had never stopped worrying about him. Even with their jounin-sensei leading them, the idea of intervening in an assassination mission by an unknown enemy force was disturbing for a team of genin who had only been out of the academy for eight months. While Team 5 coordinated well together and Hagimura-sensei often praised their individual abilities as being above average, Keiji knew that there were many old ninja and many reckless ninja but very few old reckless ninja._

_Orders were orders, though, and the only thing they could do was trust Hagimura-sensei to get them through this. The Konoha jounin turned and pointed at a nearby iron tower topped with a huge water tank about sixty feet from the outer wall of the compound. "Keiji, take your usual position on that tower. Keep watch on the manor in case the enemies try to slip out. If you see them, pin them down and we'll find them. Shinji, Mio, with me. Stick close and don't engage anyone alone. First priority is to try and get any civilians out alive."_

_Because of his personal abilities and handicaps, it was the usual plan for Keiji to be assigned away from the rest of the team in any combat situation. This time, however, Keiji hesitated. He didn't know why, but he had a really bad feeling about this. "Sensei, I… Are you sure I shouldn't come with you this time? I think…" He trailed off as his teacher replied with a curt shake of his head and sighed. Hagimura-sensei was generally considerate, but sometimes he resented being treated like a special-needs case._

_Shinji grinned. "Hey, don't worry about us, Keiji. You just spot 'em and mark 'em for us and we'll handle the rest." Mio's face, on the other hand, only grew more apprehensive._

"_Move out!" their leader barked and the team sprinted down the street, ducking around the fleeing civilians. When they reached the point where Keiji would need to split off from the others to reach his observation position, Mio and Keiji both hesitated._

_Awkwardly, he judged the distance carefully and put a hand on her shoulder. "Be careful, Mio-chan."_

_She smiled weakly at him. "You too, Keiji."_

_The moment passed. As the pretty young kunoichi turned to follow the other two through the front gates of the compound, Keiji sprang up onto the roof of the nearest building, racing across the rooftops and launching himself up onto the water tower._

_From his observation point he could see the mayor's manor spread out below him- but not terribly well. Most of the building was dark, with only a few of the rooms illuminated. There was no sign of movement or evidence of destruction and his teammates had already disappeared into the building before he'd reached his post. By now the screaming that had woken him had ceased and the compound was silent, all of the remaining noise coming from the confused mob in the streets below._

_For almost a minute the young shinobi strained his eyes, peering into the darkness around the compound for any sign of enemy ninja sneaking through the shadows. His racing pulse had begun to settle. Maybe the enemy had already completed their mission and escaped before Team 5 had even arrived?_

_His heart leaped into his mouth as another scream split the night. It was a scream he recognised. Mio-chan! A boy's yell and a man's roar of rage followed and Keiji stood paralysed by indecision, torn between following his sensei's orders and leaping off the tower to join his team. Suddenly one of the manor's walls that faced onto the open courtyard in the centre of the compound exploded outwards as a man-sized figure was sent smashing through it, tumbling along the ground for a dozen feet before coming to a halt in a crumpled heap. Another, smaller figure sprang through the hole after it, running to the first person's side and helping them to their feet. A few seconds later a glowing ball drifted up high into the air above the two figures and exploded in a brilliant light like a flare that illuminated the entire scene. Keiji recognised the technique as one of Hagimura-sensei's and indeed the man that had used the technique was Keiji's teacher, being supported by Shinji, one arm a mangled mess awash with blood._

_Stooping to fit through the hole Hagimura-sensei's expulsion had left in the wall, a terrifying figure stepped through after them. Keiji's breath caught in his throat at the sight of the man. He was the largest ninja the boy had ever seen, well over six feet tall, dressed in a sleeveless black vest and trousers. Even under the bright light of the flare, his skin was a dull bluish-grey and Keiji's vision was able to pick out a selection of frightening details- his dark spiky hair, his small, predatory-looking eyes, the dark lines on his hollow cheeks and his mouth full of teeth that had been sharpened to razor points. The forehead protector he wore, attached to a set of headgear that wrapped around his head, bore the symbol of Kirigakure, but was scarred by a line scratched straight through the middle of it- the unmistakable sign of a missing-nin. But the most notable thing about the man was the massive weapon he held in one hand. It looked like a sword made of hundreds of overlapping thorns, wet with blood and –Keiji's stomach heaved- shreds of torn flesh._

_For a moment time seemed to stand still as the huge missing-nin levelled his weapon threateningly at the bloodied jounin and the young genin who was supporting him, grinning evilly with those needle-like teeth. Shaking off his terror, Keiji pulled two pairs of shuriken from his bandolier and hurled them at the enemy as hard as he could. The range was in excess of seventy-five feet, but the weapons sliced through the air with pin-point precision, one heading for the man's throat, another for his forehead, the third for his chest and the last for the vulnerable joint of his elbow. For a split-second, Keiji thought they were all going to connect, but somehow the missing-nin managed to sense the tiny weapons coming even through the half-lit shadows of the night. The oversized blade flashed sideways faster than he would have believed possible for a weapon that size and deflected all four shuriken._

_The distraction was enough for Hagimura-sensei to thrust himself upright, shaking off Shinji's support. His hands flashed through four sets of seals and dove into one of his pouches to pull out a pair of kunai. Taking one in each hand, he flung them in the direction of their menacing opponent, one flying wide to either side of the missing-nin's body. Keiji knew this trick. There was eight feet of chakra-conductive wire strung between the two kunai, almost invisible even under normal light, which would wrap around the opponent as they passed, discharging the powerful electric charge his sensei had inbued them with just before releasing them. Most opponents never saw if coming. Taking heart, the genin hurled another barrage of shuriken, hoping to take advantage of the jutsu's effect, as Shinji dashed around the side to flank the enemy, _ninja-to_ in hand._

_As the kunai flew past the giant man, he brought his sword up defensively in front of him, catching the wire on the barbs- whether accidentally or by design, Keiji had no idea. It didn't matter though, as long as the wire touched his body somewhere, the lightning chakra would knock him flat. Shinji sprinted in ready to take advantage of the opening, his short blade levelled at the left side of the man's rib cage, ready to pierce his heart. As the wire contacted the weapon the kunai wrapped around behind the opponent, bringing the wire into contact with his bare arms._

_Nothing happened._

_The shock the team had been counting on never eventuated, as though the lightning chakra infused in the kunai had simply vanished into the aether. Snapping the entangling wire with a casual twitch of his weapon, the enemy took one broad step to the side, avoiding the incoming shuriken with ease and lunged with terrifying speed. Shinji had barely realised that their sensei's attack had fizzled out with no effect in time to abort his reckless attack, but it was too late to evade the missing-nin's counter. Once again the insane barbed weapon swung through the air faster than seemed possible, smashing aside the young genin's feeble attempt to parry, tearing into his chest, shredding clothing, skin and flesh and crushing bone. Shinji didn't even manage to scream as the blow flung him away to smash into a wall. His body fell to the ground and didn't move._

_Keiji couldn't breathe. He couldn't move. He couldn't even blink. It felt like something had reached inside his chest and was squeezing his heart as his enhanced vision took in every detail of his teammate's shattered form. He barely realised the enemy nin was turning in his direction now, the beady eyes seeking him out even at the extreme range he was at._

_Hagimura-sensei's enraged roar snapped him out of his paralysis. His despair began to turn to panic as he saw the murderer sweep his teacher's furious attack away with ease, sending him stumbling backwards. What should he do? What _could_ he do? The missing-nin followed up on his counter by hurling his outlandish weapon after Hagimura-sensei, forcing him to desperately throw himself backwards to avoid being shredded. The enemy took the opportunity of having his hands free to form a series of seals with incredible speed, then thrust his hand out in Keiji's direction._

_The terrified boy flinched and dropped low, flattening himself against the surface of the water tower roof in the hopes of avoiding whatever jutsu the enemy had just used on him. For a moment he thought nothing had happened. Then he felt a trembling coming from beneath him. Had the man used an earth jutsu to shake the tower?_

_The realisation struck Keiji in an instant- an instant that saved his life. The missing-nin was from _Kirigakure,_ it was most likely to be a water-type jutsu- and here he was, foolishly clinging to the top of the biggest reserve of water in the town! Desperately Keiji rolled to his feet, took three sprinting steps and hurled himself headlong as the tower exploded beneath him with incredible force. Chakra-infused water and shattered iron panels smashed into his body, sending him tumbling through the air, completely out of control. He tried to get his feet under him, to brace himself for landing, but it was futile. The best he could hope for was that fate would spare him._

_A massive impact smashed against his body and for Kyoshun Keiji the world ceased to exist._

oooOOOooo

"When I woke up, it was two days later," Keiji finished somberly. Naruto listened to the story in horrified fascination, their forgotten bowls of ramen rapidly going cold on the bench in front of them. "The missing-nin had finished slaughtering everyone in the mayor's household and vanished without a trace. Hagimura-sensei, Shinji-kun and… Mio-chan were… all dead." His voice choked off for a second before he shook his head and continued. "Someone had sent a message to Konoha calling for help and a medical team arrived the next day to take me home. I managed to escape with only a few broken bones and scrapes and when I made my report they told me I was lucky to still be alive. If they knew who that monstrous missing-nin was, though, they didn't tell me." He picked up his chopsticks again and picked a bamboo shoot out of the cooling bowl of ramen, popping it into his mouth. "Since then, I've just been training myself, waiting until the higher-ups could find something to do with me."

His story done, Keiji resumed eating in earnest, despite the lukewarm state of his food. Naruto was speechless. He'd thought what had happened to Sasuke had been bad, but Keiji's story, disturbing similar to his own, showed that it could have been so much worse. For a moment his mind was filled with nightmarish thoughts of Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei and old man Tazuna killed as well as Sasuke and himself forced to flee back to Konoha alone. He shuddered and a pang of sympathy for what his new teammate had gone through resonated within him.

There were a few minutes of silence as the two boys resumed their meal (cool or not, it was a sin to waste good ramen). Finally Keiji drained his bowl and set it down in front of him, then took a deep breath and turned to look directly at Naruto. "So now that you know my story, are you sure you still want me to be your new teammate?"

Naruto fumbled his chopsticks as he fished for the last few noodles in the bottom of the bowl. "Wha- huh- eh- what?" he stammered, turning to stare into the boy's unusually large eyes. "Why would you even ask a question like that? Why wouldn't I want to be your teammate?"

Despite being at least five inches taller than Naruto, Keiji suddenly looked very small. "Well… after I lost my team, a lot of the other people didn't…" He hesitated. "…didn't like me any more. They thought I was unreliable, or too weak to be a ninja. One or two even insinuated that I'd survived by selling my teammates out. I've just been training on my own for the last six months. Almost none of my old academy classmates will even speak to me any more. So I thought that maybe…" The boy trailed off hopelessly and Naruto gave him a sympathetic look.

"Hey, there's no need for you to worry about any of that, Keiji," he said softly. "I can understand. I'd be happy to have you on our team." He smiled at his teammate. "We'll show the world what we're made of, right?"

Keiji returned the smile gratefully. "If you say so, Naruto-kun. And Sakura-san too?"

Naruto's stomach sunk. He'd somehow forgotten Sakura. He couldn't for sure say that she'd be as willing to accept Keiji as he was. Hell, he couldn't say for sure she'd still be willing to accept _him._

"Umm…"

oooOOOooo

Kakashi sighed to himself. It had been just over a week since his new team had begun taking on D-ranked missions together and things had mostly been successful. Naruto had complained a bit when he'd heard about missing out on the Chuunin exams, but had eventually settled down again and only occasionally grumbled about how unfair it was quietly to himself. Since then, he and Keiji worked together well to complete any tasks they were given and Sakura seemed surprisingly accepting of their new teammate as well. The girl had dedicated herself to their missions and her training with a renewed intensity that pleased the jounin, but there was still a problem. While she wasn't so blunt as to say anything outright, you didn't have to be a genius to see that Sakura was avoiding Naruto as much as possible. Whether they were weeding a garden, chasing down escaped pets, or lending assistance to Konoha's postal service, Sakura would put in the maximum effort but would politely yet firmly refuse to accept any help from Naruto, even when it would have made their task easier.

The problem was exacerbated by the fact that Naruto was being painfully obvious about trying to be as helpful as he could. Where Sakura worked steadfastly at their missions, making sure everything was done as quickly, efficiently and completely as possible, Naruto threw himself into every task as though he had something to prove, trying to do as much as he could handle himself and offering to help his teammates with almost every single job they were assigned. While his enthusiasm was heartening and he and Keiji cooperated without a problem, it was discouraging to see his every advance continually rejected by the teammate he most desperately wanted to reconnect with.

For D-ranked missions it was bearable, but Kakashi was starting to see what the Hokage meant when he rejected his team's entry into the Chuunin exam. As their teacher, it was his duty to do something if he ever wanted his students to be fit to do more than chores, but it might take more than the bell test to get them over this issue.

oooOOOooo

Sakura was training alone in the fading light of the late-afternoon after Kakashi had dismissed them for the day. She'd waved away Naruto's hopeful inquiry about whether she'd like to train with him and Keiji and had been working on her own for more than half an hour already without stopping. All her attention was focussed on the sparring post in front of her, her forearms, palms and fingers slapping against the polished wood as she repeatedly drilled herself through her offensive and defensive taijutsu forms. A fine sheen of sweat was building up on her forehead and she was starting to breathe heavily.

So intent on her training was Sakura that she didn't notice the person behind her until they coughed gently. Caught by surprise, she spun around with her arms still raised defensively to find Keiji standing a cautious distance back, watching her. Feeling somewhat awkward at reacting as if she'd been expecting him to attack her, the girl lowered her arms to her side and gave him a slightly embarrassed smile. "Oh… Keiji-kun." She'd stopped calling him 'Keiji-san' after the first few missions, although he still used that honourific when addressing her. "Can I help you?"

The older boy returned the smile politely. "Actually, Sakura-san, I was just wondering if you had the time to talk for a bit? I was just hoping to discuss a few things with you."

Sakra was suddenly acutely aware of how tired she was now that she'd ceased moving. Wiping the beads of sweat from her brow with the back of her hand, she supposed now _would_ be a good time for a break and having a talk with Keiji might be a good idea. Despite having been on his team for a whole week, she hadn't really found out that much about the boy yet. From her work with him so far she got along with him well enough- he was polite, almost reserved, conscientious and neat, despite his occasional clumsiness. While he could never be called 'cool' by any standard, he was pleasant and easygoing enough to be nearly impossible to dislike. "OK, Keiji-kun," she replied, walking across to the bench where she'd left her bag to retrieve a drink and have a seat. "That's fine with me. What would you like to talk about?"

Her newest teammate took the indicated position on the bench beside her. "Well, I was mainly wondering how you think the team is going? Do you…" he hesitated, "think I'm doing OK?"

Sakura swallowed a gulp from her flask- a mix of pineapple and orange juice that she found energised her better than simple water. "Hmm? I think you're doing fine, Keiji-kun. You work hard, you take everything seriously, you never promise to do more than you're capable of, but you always do as much as you can." She snorted quietly. "Unlike _some_ people I could name."

Keiji smiled somewhat awkwardly. "Um, that's good. I was wondering… did you want to know why I was assigned to your team?"

oooOOOooo

Sakura listened attentively as Keiji told her the entire story, just as he had to Naruto several days earlier. By the time he was finished, she almost had tears in her eyes. "Oh Keiji-kun… I'm so sorry," she said softly. "That… must have been awful."

The older boy gave her a grateful look. "Thank you, Sakura-san. It _was_ awful, but… I have to carry on. If I just gave up, it'd disgrace their memories. So I'm glad that I've been given another chance here with Team 7." His expression turned pensive. "So… does that mean you trust me to be your teammate? Even after I failed?"

Sakura was shocked. "Keiji-kun, you didn't 'fail'! You did everything you could and from the sound of it I don't think there's a genin in Konoha who could have done any more. It wasn't your fault your teammates died." She smiled reassuringly at him, glad to have this chance to comfort a teammate in need. "It's OK, Keiji-kun. I trust you to be my new teammate."

Keiji did not smile, though. Instead he looked Sakura directly in the eye. "Then, Sakura-san… do you trust Naruto-kun?"

Words failed her. Her breath caught in her throat. Keiji had finally put into words the thing that had been eating at her ever since Sasuke's death. After Naruto had emerged alive from the same battle that had claimed Sasuke's life, she'd instinctively shied away from him without thinking. She'd avoided talking to him or doing anything with him as much as possible. And until Keiji had asked her this simple question, she hadn't even really thought about why she was doing it.

Was it that she didn't trust Naruto any more? Did she consider him no longer reliable for letting Sasuke die in battle with Haku? Was her grief unconsciously causing her to blame Naruto for what happened? Now that she'd heard Keiji's story, most especially the part about how his former classmates no longer trusted him in the wake of his team's annihilation, she could see what she was doing clearly- and what it was doing to both Naruto and to Team 7.

She looked beseechingly at Keiji, hoping he could help her find an answer, but he only returned her gaze unblinkingly. Sakura wavered, uncertain of what to do or how to resolve her confusion. Desperately, she turned to her training, running through all the rules a good ninja should follow. When she got to rule #25 she faltered as she recalled the last time she had spoken it- the moment on the bridge, talking with old Tazuna-san as she knelt by Sasuke's lifeless body. _"A shinobi never shows their feelings, no matter what the circumstances. Feelings are a weakness that only cloud one's judgement and weaken one's sense of duty."_ For a moment she felt the echo of the tears in her eyes as she recalled her grief. _"It's OK to cry,"_ Tazuna had said, but Sakura had resolved that she would not cry again so easily and she angrily fought back the tears.

Then Sakura remembered the class where they had learned that particular rule, during their fifth year in the academy. _"Shinobi rule #25 may sound harsh," _Iruka-sensei had said. _"For some ninja it's the hardest rule to follow. But even if you can't kill your feelings entirely, it's still an important rule to remember. The essence of the rule is that _you can't allow your heart to overrule your head!_ You can't allow your temperament to cloud your judgement. You always need to keep a clear head and make sure you see the _truth._ Your emotions are a part of you, but you must not let them blind you, or lead you into making a mistake you will regret."_

Sakura took a deep, shuddering breath, squeezing her eyes closed as she grasped the extent of her mistake. She'd been letting her uncontrolled feelings, her grief and her doubt, overrule her sense of reason and influence her behavior without even realising it. Naruto was annoying, loud, obnoxious and dumb, but he wasn't a bad person and it was neither right nor fair for her to treat him like this. More importantly, even if she couldn't yet call him her friend, he was her teammate. She'd been so caught up in her own attempts to deal with Sasuke's death that she hadn't thought about how it had been affecting Naruto at all. They'd survived the Wave Country mission together, but rather than Sasuke's death bringing them closer together and making her appreciate her teammate more, she'd been so wrapped up in her own grief that she'd allowed it to drive them apart.

Opening her eyes again, she looked back at Keiji again, meeting his steadfast gaze. "Yes," she declared, calmly and with conviction. "I trust Naruto." Her mouth twisted into a warped smile. "Even if he is an idiot."

The boy grinned. "That's good to hear, Sakura-san. I trust him too." He stood up from the bench. "So tomorrow we'll be able to start our missions as Team 7, working all together?"

Sakura gave him a funny look as she rose to her feet as well. "You know what, Keiji-kun? You're a surprisingly manipulative fellow." But she smiled as she said it, more warmly this time. It was well past time that they stopped being just three genin and became a team again and if it had taken the intervention of a newcomer to help her see that, then that could only be a good thing. For Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto and Kyoshun Keiji under the command of Hatake Kakashi, it was time for them, as Team 7, to make a fresh start.

oooOOOooo

Naruto was bewildered. Happy, but bewildered. He didn't know what had happened in the space of one day, but somehow Sakura's attitude towards him seemed to have undergone a radical change overnight.

Team 7 was out of Konoha for a few days on what Kakashi had called a "D+ ranked mission". While the job they had been assigned was much larger and more time-consuming than the mundane chores they'd been doing up that point, there would be no risk involved beyond what any person would find camping out in the woods. They'd been hired by a local apothecary who owned a thriving medicinal business to go on an expedition to collect a sufficiently large stock of herbs and rare fungi that he used in the production of his stock from the forests that surrounded Konoha, a job that had been estimated would take them four days. In order to save time, rather than heading back to the village at the end of each day's work, Kakashi had decided they'd camp out in the woods until they were done.

Once they'd reached what Kakashi had judged to be a good camping spot, the three genin had split up to collect their own share of the goods. Unfortunately, right from the start Naruto had been struggling. Each of them had been issued with a list of the plants they were meant to collect, with descriptions of where to find them and how to identify them correctly. But Naruto's knowledge of plants extended about as far as knowing to water them when they were dry. He'd started out enthusiastically enough, but when Kakashi-sensei had come to check on him after the first hour he'd been forced to discard the _entire_ bag of random leaves, mosses and assorted foliage he'd mistaken for useful medicinal goods.

It was shortly afterwards that Sakura had caught up with him and, to his immeasurable surprise, offered to help. The kunoichi seemed to have found a previously undiscovered talent for identifying the right plants and had almost completely filled her own bag already. Apparently Keiji had been doing fine on his own the last time she'd seen him, so she'd come looking for Naruto. Although startled, Naruto hadn't questioned this sudden reversal of his fortune and had accepted her help gladly. It had taken some time, a certain amount of frustration and at least one painful knock on the head when Sakura had lost her patience with his habit of grabbing any plant that looked interesting enough and asking "how about this, then?", but together they were doing pretty well. It was almost like it was back before the Wave Country mission. No, even that wasn't true- before the Wave Country mission Sakura had pretty much ignored Naruto except to berate him when he screwed up, giving all her attention to Sasuke. This was something new.

After a few hours of rigorous searching, the two genin had decided to take a break. Naruto sat down with his back to a tree, wiping sweat from his brow and glanced across at Sakura, who had taken out her water flask and was unscrewing the lid. Although they'd been able to talk freely while they were working, now that they'd stopped an awkward silence that was depressingly familiar fell across them again.

_To hell with this,_ Naruto decided. _I'm not going to get a better chance that this to put things right between us and I'm not going to let it slip away!_

"Sakura-chan?" She lowered her bottle from her lips and looked at him questioningly. "Um… thanks a lot for helping me today. It was… I… uh…" He struggled with his words for an awkward moment. "So… thanks."

There was a long pause as Sakura looked back at him, then she lowered her eyes. "I'm sorry."

Naruto blinked. "Um… Sakura-chan… what was that you said…?"

"I'm sorry, Naruto."

The boy was nonplussed. Sakura had spent the last few hours going out of her way to help him, so why was she apologising to him? He furrowed his brow in confusion. "Um, Sakura-chan, what are you sorry for? Did you make some kind of screw-up that I don't know about?"

The pretty kunoichi raised her head and glared at him. Naruto flinched at the familiar sight of irritation on her face, but at the same time he noticed something shocking. Were those _tears_ forming in the corners of her eyes? "Naruto," she snapped, "sometimes your obliviousness is really frustrating. I'm sorry for the way I've been acting towards you recently, alright? Ever since Sasuke died I've been treating you unfairly just because of my own insecurities and it wasn't right. So I'm sorry and I'm changing that starting today." She put her flask down and wiped the tears away angrily before they reached her cheeks. "You got a problem with that, Naruto?"

Narto frantically waved his hands in front of him defensively. "No! No! No problem! It's just that…" He paused for a moment, for once choosing his words with care. "I thought… I was the one to blame, really. I've been looking for a way to make it up to you ever since we came back to Konoha."

For an uncomfortable moment Sakura just stared at him. Then she rolled her eyes in exasperation and sighed. But this time she smiled while doing it. "That is _so_ like you, Naruto. You may be reckless, thoughtless and careless, but no-one could ever accuse you of not being willing to accept responsibility, even when you shouldn't." She shook her head. "No, Naruto, you weren't to blame here. You didn't kill Sasuke. And I shouldn't have been avoiding you." Naruto pushed himself to his feet as she walked across to stand in front of him. "We're still Team 7, right?"

Naruto smiled back at her. "We'll _always_ be Team 7, Sakura-chan. No matter what. You and me and Keiji and Kakashi-sensei. And even Sasuke will always be part of Team 7." The smile expanded into a face-splitting grin. "In the distant future, when you and I finally die of old age after two long and amazing careers, we'll meet up with Sasuke in the afterlife and we'll _still _be Team 7."

Sakura looked him in the eye again and Naruto was surprised to see that it looked like the tears that had threatened to make an appearance before were back again. For a moment the girl glanced furtively around herself as if making sure no-one was watching. Then, with no warning whatsoever, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his chest.

Naruto went rigid with shock as Sakura hugged him. It wasn't just the first time she'd ever done so; it was the first time she'd ever _touched_ him for non-violent reasons. "Thank you, Naruto," she whispered in his ear. Just as quickly, she released him and quickly stepped away, blushing. "I'm never going to do that again, so _don't_ read anything into that," she snapped. "And don't you _dare_ ever tell anyone that I did that, OK Naruto?" Naruto could only blink owlishly, completely speechless.

A few moments later, she turned and walked back over to pick up her water bottle. "Come on, we should probably get back to work. We have a mission to finish here."

Shaking himself out of his daze, Naruto grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Uh… right you are, Sakura-chan! Let's _do_ this!"

oooOOOooo

Kakashi smirked to himself from his hidden position above his two students. Well, that should just about do it. It was almost a pity they'd sorted things out on their own like that- he'd been looking forward to trying out this new teamwork exercise he'd been working on for the last day or so.

Oh well. There was always the possibility he'd be able to use it some time in the future if they ever started slacking off. And if nothing else, he'd be able to save this little event to tease the two kids with next time they started giving him lip about his teaching methods.

oooOOOooo

Team 7 managed to return to Konoha with their mission complete a day ahead of schedule, tired but proud. They arrived back at the gates of Konoha just as the sun was about to set, delivered their bulging bags of collected goods to the client and reported their success to the Hokage before retiring for the day. Apparently the second stage of the Chuunin exams had just been concluded earlier that day, so Naruto was looking forward to snooping out the story about it from some of his acquaintances on other teams who'd entered and managed to make it past the first round- apparently both Team 8 and Team 10 had made it into the second stage with ease, according to what Kakashi had heard from their respective jounin-sensei.

Naruto was delighted to find that, for the first time ever, Sakura agreed to go to Icihiraku together with him and Keiji, even if she _did_ feel the need to make enquiries about the possibility of a low-fat ramen. Things really felt like they were coming together for the team and he couldn't wait to see what challenges the future would hold for them.

When they showed up at the Hokage tower the next morning to receive their mission, Naruto was practically bouncing with energy. If anything, his excitement grew even more when Kakashi told the team he was considering asking for another C-ranked misson, although this time he was going to make sure it was ACTUALLY a C-ranked mission and wouldn't feature any more murderous missing-nin.

Walking in to meet with the Hokage, Naruto noticed something odd. The old man looked extremely serious, almost grim. Team 7 lined up in front of him and saluted and he gave them a nod of acknowledgement as he sucked on the stem of his pipe.

"I have a special mission for you today, Team 7," he began without preamble. "This is a mission of vital importance."

Naruto grinned and punched the air. "Wow, really? Yes! Finally, a challenge worthy of us! What is it, do we need to rescue a princess? Find a long-lost treasure? Recover top secret documents to prevent a war?"

The Hokage gave him a Look and Naruto's grin faded slowly as he realised everyone else was gazing at him with a variety of bemused, pitying and embarassed expressions. Lowering his raised arm, he did his best to look serious and businesslike. Once he was sure there would be no more interruptions from that quarter, the leader of Konoha continued. "This mission is difficult to grade because it's unlikely to be very dangerous at all and may not even turn out to be remarkably difficult. Under normal circumstances it would most likely be considered a C-rank at absolute most. However, I must restate that the importance of this mission is far out of proportion with its difficulty, so I need you to treat it with the _utmost_ seriousness."

He allowed his words to sink in. Naruto still looked excited, but was giving the Hokage his full attention. Sakura's brow was furrowed with concern as she tried to work out what kind of mission could possibly be easy enough to be left to a genin team, yet important enough that it required this kind of emphasis. Keiji just looked thoughtful, but attentive. Apart from a single raised eyebrow Kakashi seemed as stoic as ever. It was the jounin who broke the silence this time. "What does this mission entail, Hokage-sama?"

The old ninja took his pipe out of his mouth and put it down on his ashtray. "Your mission is to find and retrieve a missing person, one of our genin. Hyuuga Hinata has run away from Konoha."

TO BE CONTINED…

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Argh! Hate! Hate hate hate hate _hate_ **HATE!** I HATED writing this chapter! I was stuck on it for so, SO long that by the end I was just wishing it was over. There turned out to be far more to cover in it than I'd initially planned and it turned out about 10 pages overlong. So much was changed along the way, so much removed and rewritten, so much time wasted on writer's block. Writing this was like pulling teeth, it was kicking my ass literally for MONTHS. Thank god it's out of the way now! Sorry this delayed the chapter so long, the next couple of chapters at least will come out a lot quicker; as I said at the end of chapter 1, I'm writing several chapters in advance to reduce delays between releases.

As I said, there was a lot of material that was removed from this, as well as a lot that was changed. Originally Keiji was called 'Kurimoto Takeshi', but it struck me that that sounded a bit too much like Kuranari Takeshi from 'Ever 17' to the point that it was affecting my mental image of him, so I changed it. Right up until the last revision before publishing he also had a more conventional vision problem, requiring him to wear bottle-thick glasses like Mousee from Ranma 1/2. Additionally, his introduction scene was actually supposed to be an action scene where Kakashi arranged for him to show off his abilities to Naruto and Sakura by bombarding them from shuriken from extreme long range while they were still waiting for him to arrive, but I dropped that because not only was it taking up too much space, it was pretty stupid. Finally, I originally replayed the manga's confrontation with the Sand Siblings (adjusted to feature Keiji in place of Sasuke) but dumped it for much the same reason- it was overlong and really rather pointless.

Keiji is my first original character and I can assure you there won't be many of them. I'm fully aware of the risks inherent in creating an OC- you have to make them interesting and likeable, but not TOO interesting and likeable, or they become a Mary Sue. Likewise, you have to make them significant to the plot, without allowing them to overshadow the rest of the cast- if you don't develop and use a character enough after introducing them, people tend to forget they even exist. Y'know, like _Sai._ Keiji is here to be a supporting character, but not a new protagonist, an ally and friend but not a hero. I hope I can keep him in balance because I actually kind of like the guy.

While I'm committed to remaining tight-lipped about any possible pairings in the story for now, let me just assure you that I will NOT be shipping Kakashi and Iruka. I've always considered that a complete Crack Ship with no basis or grounding in reason whatsoever, so don't go drawing funny conclusions from the scene in the Hokage's office.

This chapter is where the first big change comes into the story (other than Sasuke's death, obviously). I was always bothered by how many fanfics completely mess with the setup of the story, change up all the teams, mix up the character relationships, but still replay all the same plot events regardless. Well, Team 7 isn't in the Chuunin exam this time and you are already be starting to see the knock-on effects. This will be fun (admittedly, only for a given value of "fun").

Song of the moment: 'Rebel Beat' by The Goo Goo Dolls.

NEXT TIME:

A desperate runaway is in need of rescue, but who is it she really needs rescuing from- her enemies or herself? Will Team 7 be able to succeed in this most vital mission? Find out in **Naruto: The Secret Songs of the Ninja chapter 3- The Song of the Wanderer.**

- Arcane Azmadi


	3. Chapter 3

NARUTO: THE SECRET SONGS OF THE NINJA.

**Disclaimer:** *yawn* Been there, done that…

**Note:** I really hate to beg for reviews, but I'm getting almost no feedback from anyone whatsoever. I have no idea what any of you think of my story, what parts you like, what parts you don't think, or even whether you just think the entire story sucks and you're not going to read any more. If you can spare me just a minute of your time, any feedback would be GREATLY appreciated.

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Chapter 3- The Song of the Wanderer.

Naruto stared at the old man as he absorbed the Hokage's words. Hyuuga Hinata. He remembered her, more or less, from their time together at the academy. A quiet, painfully shy girl with a short black bob-cut and strange white eyes, she had always kept to herself to the point where he doubted he'd ever exchanged more than a handful of words with her during their whole time in the same class. He remembered she was hard-working, if an unexceptional student, but she'd passed the final exams to become a genin comfortably enough. Probably the most notable thing about her, apart from her pupil-less white eyes, had been that she was the only girl in the class who'd never expressed any visible interest in Sasuke. Also, for some reason she'd never seemed to look at him; in fact, any time he looked towards her she always seemed to be staring intently in the exact opposite direction. The last time he'd seen her she'd been assigned to genin Team 8 with that loudmouth Kiba and that quiet weirdo Shino.

"Hokage-sama, what do you mean she 'ran away'?" Sakura asked, concern tinging her voice. Naruto wondered if Sakura had been friends with the girl, although he doubted it. As far as he'd been able to see, Hinata hadn't had any friends in class.

"Exactly that," the Hokage said gravely. "She's disappeared from her home some time last night without informing anyone of where she's going. Initial investigation found some of her clothing and her equipment has gone as well, so it's highly unlikely she has been kidnapped. Based on recent circumstances, it seems almost certain that she has run away."

"'Circumstances'?" echoed Kakashi. "What kind of 'circumstances' are we talking about here?"

"The client for this mission will be able to tell you about that in more detail," the old ninja answered. "Normally a runaway ninja would become a matter for ANBU, but in this case I personally received a special request for assistance from the girl's jounin-sensei, Yuuhi Kurenai, and her two teammates, Aburame Shino and Inuzuka Kiba." The Hokage leaned forward in his chair and folded his hands together on the desk in front of him. "I should remind you again that this mission is far more critical than it appears. The Hyuuga clan is one of the oldest and most powerful families in Konoha, largely due to the power of their unique bloodline limit, the Byakugan eyes. Many people covet this power and would go to any lengths to get it; Hinata herself was once almost kidnapped as a child for this very reason. Because of this, it is _vital_ that she be found and brought back as quickly as possible. Normally ANBU would dispatch hunter-nin immediately to track down and terminate any ninja of such importance who tried to leave the village. But Kurenai-sensei has convinced me that the girl cannot possibly be trying to defect, nor that she has any intentions of working against Konoha, so I have managed to stall ANBU- for the time being." The Hokage looked directly into their eyes, one after the other. "You have five days to find and secure Hyuuga Hinata before bringing her back to Konoha. After that, I will _have no choice_ but to dispatch the hunter-nin to look for her and then there will be no chance of her escaping severe punishment."

Naruto gulped. The intensity in the old man's voice convinced him the Hokage meant every word. This was serious. The four of them saluted as the Hokage dismissed them and turned to leave the office.

Waiting on a bench in the corridor outside was a tall, strikingly attractive woman with red eyes and long wavy black hair, dressed in an outfit of red and white. Beside her were two boys Naruto recognised as his old classmates, Kiba and Shino, which meant the woman must be Kurenai-sensei. She stood up as Team 7 approached and bowed deeply. "Kakashi-sensei, you have no idea how glad I am that the Hokage agreed to assign this mission to you."

Kakashi waved dismissively as the other jounin straightened up. Was it just Naruto's imagination, or was he a little embarassed by her gesture? "Oh no, think nothing of it. We'll find her as soon as possible and see her brought home unharmed. The Hokage said you had some more details to tell us that might be helpful?"

Kurenai-sensei nodded. "Yes, I think so. I'm quite certain I know why Hinata ran away. You remember that I entered my team in this round of the Chuunin exams?" Kakashi nodded and the woman went on. "My team cleared the first two rounds of testing comfortably; they did superbly, in fact." Behind her, Naruto could see a toothy, self-satisfied grin spread across Kiba's face and even the stoic Shino gave a small nod of acknowledgement. "At the end of the second round there still remained too many candidates for the final, so a series of preliminary elimination bouts were held. While Shino and Kiba defeated their opponents to advance, Hinata found herself matched up against possibly the worst opponent she could have- her cousin, Hyuuga Neji."

Kakashi whistled. "I've heard about him. He's supposed to be a prodigy, potentially the finest ninja the Hyuuga clan have produced for years. He's on Gai's team. So, she got badly beaten?"

To Team 7's surprise, Kurenai shook her head sadly. "Worse. Neji bullied her into giving up without a fight. Hinata is a good girl and always does her best, but she's always suffered from extremely low self-confidence and Neji belittled her until she was convinced she couldn't win, without even raising a hand against her."

Shino spoke up from behind his sensei. "Given their respective abilities, it was in fact very likely that Hinata would have been defeated by Neji had she fought him." He pushed his dark glasses further up his nose. "However, his comments went far beyond the scope of that fight alone, condemning her as failure both as a ninja and as the heir to their clan. It was tantamount to outright psychological abuse."

Sakura covered her mouth with her hand, appalled. "That's horrible! And he's supposed to be her cousin?" Keiji looked equally disturbed and Naruto fumed inwardly. He didn't remember all that much about Hinata at the academy, but he did recall that, like Kurenai-sensei said, she'd always done her best. How could anyone call her a failure when she was trying so hard?

Kiba snarled angrily. "That bastard had no right to say that to her! I shouted at her to ignore him and kick his ass, but she just stood here trembling while he fed her all that crap about 'fate' and 'destiny' in that smug voice of his, then she just folded up and was disqualified." He smacked one bunched fist hard into the opposite palm and the small white dog sitting on his head gave a low growl. "I'm not matched up against him first in the finals, but I hope he doesn't get knocked out before I get the chance to show him what _I_ think about his 'destiny'!"

Kurenai picked up the story again. "Hinata was utterly miserable after that. She was on the verge of tears and wouldn't talk to us except to keep telling me how sorry she was. I was so worried about her that I escorted her home myself yesterday and went to see her again first thing this morning- I was the one who discovered she'd run away." She shook her head pityingly. "Poor girl. Her father is very strict and not very sympathetic, constantly demanding nothing but the best from her. The problem is that while she's the designated heir to the clan, her cousin from the branch family has a reputation as a prodigy the likes of which hasn't been seen for generations and her younger sister is proving to be remarkably talented at the family's martial arts style, while Hinata struggles no matter how hard she tries. As a result, her father has made it clear that he doesn't expect much any more. We keep telling her that _we_ believe in her, and truly we know she can do it, but sadly she doesn't seem to believe in herself."

A somber mood settled on the group. Naruto tried to imagine how Hinata could be feeling and found that he honestly couldn't. For years while he'd been growing up almost no-one had believed in him other than Iruka-sensei, but no-one had demanded anything of him either; every one of his goals, even becoming Hokage, were the ones he'd set for himself. And he'd never doubted himself either- in fact he'd clung to his confidence and determination to persist in the face of ridicule. To have people expecting so much from you yet not expressing any confidence that you could deliver, until you didn't even believe in yourself- Naruto couldn't even _begin_ to imagine how bad that would feel.

Kurenai sighed. "More than anything I wish I could go after her myself, but at the moment I can't. The three of us have an obligation to prepare for the chuunin exam finals and Hokage-sama made it a condition of accepting my special request that I leave the mission to the sole discretion of whoever he chose for it." She smiled slightly. "I do take comfort in the fact that he chose you for this, though. There are few people I'd trust to find her more quickly than you, former-ANBU-captain Kakashi, and I'm glad that Naruto-kun-" she hesitated for a moment, "-that two of her academy classmates are going to help with the search. When you find Hinata, make sure she knows that her teammates are worried sick about her and are waiting for her to return."

Naruto thumped his chest and grinned. "Don't you worry about a thing, Kurenai-sensei! We'll find her and bring her back safe and sound, just you wait and see! That's a promise!"

"Yeah!" Sakura chimed in. "We'll find her, no matter what!" Keiji voiced his agreement too and Kakashi gave his students a warm look of approval before turning back to Kurenai and giving her a firm nod.

An expression of gratitude spread across the female jounin's face. "Thank you," she said and the team could feel the sincerity behind her words. "Please do whatever you can to help my precious student." Kurenai bowed deeply to them and, to Naruto's surprise, Kiba and Shino rose from their seats to do the same. He was struck by a sudden sense of how much Hinata must really mean to her teammates and he swore to himself that he'd make this the quickest mission he'd ever undertaken.

oooOOOooo

Team 7 met at the gates of Konoha less than half an hour later, packed and ready to leave; Kakashi-sensei had been insistant that they move as quickly as possible before Hinata's trail grew cold. Despite the Hokage's ruling that Team 8 had to leave the mission to Kakashi's team, Kiba had used his dog Akamaru to track Hinata's scent as far as the west wall of the village while they were preparing. While Kakashi could have used his own skills to track her further, that would have slowed them down unnecessarily when there was a faster way. Taking into account the information Kurenai had given them about the places the team had visited since their formation, he could simply make a quick deduction- after Hinata had snuck over the west wall the night before or some time in the early morning, she had almost certainly made for the nearby town of Sumigawa.

As soon as they had passed the gates, Team 7 took to the trees in order to make best speed to Sumigawa. The town was nearly four days travel for a normal person on foot, but a ninja team moving at full speed should be able to make it in a little more than a day. As they leapt from branch to branch, a sober silence ruled the air between them. Finally, Naruto couldn't stand it any longer.

"I can't believe this has happened!" he burst out. "One of our classmates hurt so badly that they'd just want to run away? How could anyone do that to her?" He realised he'd been clenching his right fist until his nails were digging into his palm. Naruto didn't know what this Hyuuga Neji looked like, but he felt a sudden longing to smash that fist into his undoubtably smug face.

"I was in the academy with Neji," Keiji supplied. "I didn't know him well and he didn't have many friends- kept himself aloof from everyone. Everyone knew he was the best in the class, none of us could even touch him." Naruto thought that actually sounded more than a bit like Sasuke. Keiji's brow furrowed. "But rather than making him smug, his superiority only seemed to make him bitter. I never asked him why, but I guessed it was issues with his family."

"The Hyuuga family is, as Hokage-sama said, one of the oldest and most distinguished in Konoha." Kakashi-sensei interjected. "In the past they were second only to the Uchiha and since the massacre they've been the most powerful clan in the entire village. Their special eyes, the Byakugan, are said to be nearly the equal of the Sharingan and when combined with their unique martial arts style, jyuuken, they are supposed to be hand-to-hand fighters without peer." The master ninja sighed. "Unfortunately the clan has a strict hierarchy which undoubtably causes friction among some of the members. This Neji apparently belonged to the branch family that serves the main family, which means that he will always be subordinate to Hinata, the heir. For a prodigy like him, I imagine the idea of serving under someone he sees as so obviously beneath him grates on him more than a bit."

"But that's no reason for doing what he did to Hinata-san," Sakura objected. "If he said even _half_ of the things Kiba-kun said he did, then he was just being needlessly cruel! If he can't even do his duty to his own family without letting petty spite getting in the way, I can't see how he could ever be a good ninja."

Their sensei shrugged. "I think there's probably more to it than I know. The Hyuuga family have always been cagey with their secrets. There could be all sorts of skeletons in the closet we're not aware of."

Naruto gritted his teeth and put on an extra burst of speed. "Well whatever's going on, it doesn't matter- first we need to find Hinata and let her know that whatever that bastard Neji told her, it's all a load of crap!"

oooOOOooo

They'd been forced to stop earlier than they'd initially planned when it became too dark for Keiji to see. Since he relied on spotting and marking the relative position of his next branch well in advance, he couldn't make the shorter, more spontaneous hops that the reduced visibility forced the others to resort to. He'd tried to go on as best as he could, but after the third time he'd missed the branch he'd been aiming at, Kakashi-sensei had called a halt, over the boy's frustrated objections.

Still, by leaving at first light the next day, they'd managed to reach Sumigawa by late morning. The town was a reasonable size, with a population of well over three thousand souls, and was surrounded by miles of rice paddies. Kakashi-sensei had stopped at a few of the farmhouses along the way to ask if anyone had seen a small girl travelling on her own in the last day or so, but had received only negative answers. Now the four of them stood at the head of the town's main street, looking down at the bustle of people going about their daily business.

Kakashi-sensei briskly clapped his hands and rubbed them together in a businesslike manner. "Right, now here's the plan: I'm going to summon my cute ninja dogs to see if they can track down our little runaway. Sakura, you ask at all the local inns to see if she's checked in anywhere." The young kunoichi nodded. "Keiji, you try to find the highest position you can to see if you can spot her from a distance." Kurenai had provided them with a single photo of her and her team all together, Hinata shyly standing in between the grinning Kiba and poker-faced Shino with Kurenai standing behind them, so Keiji would be able to recognise her face. Kakashi returned his student's acknowledgement and turned to the last member of his party. "And Naruto-" He stopped and sighed in resignation. "OK, did anyone see where Naruto went?"

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" Glancing upwards at the shout, the remaining members of the team saw about a dozen Naruto's sprinting away across the rooftops in every direction. Sakura clapped her palm onto her face in despair at her teammate's impatience and Keiji rolled his eyes with a knowing smile.

Kakashi-sensei merely shrugged. "-and Naruto will use his shadow clones to manually search the streets as quickly as possible."

oooOOOooo

The small, sad figure of Hyuuga Hinata sat on the public bench, he shoulders sagging under the weight of her misery. She just didn't know what to do.

After she'd disgraced herself in the Chuunin exam, Hinata had felt nothing but despair. Her sensei and teammates had tried to console her, but their kindness had only made her feel worse. Her failure had been absolute and complete- for what kind of ninja would give up without even a fight? Neji-niisan's voice echoed in her head: _"Hinata-sama, you are not fit to be a ninja."_

And so, dreading the confrontation with her father that would undoubably follow the next day when he'd heard of her shame and unable to face the prospect of even one more day pretending to be a ninja of Konoha, she'd packed what little she had and fled like a thief in the night, wanting only to disappear from the lives and memories of everyone who ever knew her.

She'd headed for Sumigawa first for a lack of any other destination. She'd been there before with her teammates for their first mission outside of Konoha, a simple courier delivery of some delicate and valuable goods for a wedding that was scheduled to take place. The mission had been completed without any problems, so Kurenai-sensei had allowed the group to spend some time looking around the town before they returned to Konoha and had treated them to lunch at a nice restaurant they had found. It had been one of the happiest days Hinata had experienced in a long time, so she'd gravitated back to the town almost instinctively on her escape.

It was only after she'd arrived that she'd stopped to consider her situation more seriously and once she did her misery returned tenfold. Even if she was only a genin, leaving the village would result in her being branded a missing-nin and hunters would be dispatched to track her down. The fact that she was a Hyuuga of the main branch made it even worse; had she belonged to any other family it was quite likely Konoha would simply not have bothered with losing a ninja as worthless as her, but her eyes made that an impossibility. Hinata didn't know whether the hunters would simply capture her and drag her back to the village to face punishment, execute her on the spot, or even cut out her eyes and abandon her once there was no more risk of the Byakugan falling into the wrong hands. And even returning home willingly was out of the question; now that she'd compounded her shameful display at the chuunin exam by fleeing like a coward she could _never_ return to face the scorn of her peers. Her teammates and sensei would certainly never be willing to work with her again.

To make matters worse, even if she managed to evade the hunters, Hinata was completely at a loss for what to do next. She certainly couldn't make any kind of living as a ninja and she knew nobody in the wider world beyond Konoha. She also had very little money to live on. The money she'd earned from doing missions with her team had been paid into her family's treasury, from which she was given a small weekly allowance. While Hinata had never been a big spender and tended to save her allowance up, it still amounted to very little when faced with the prospect of having to live on it for an indefinite period. So, too scared to use an inn, Hinata had spent the previous night curled up in her bedroll in a back alley, crying herself to sleep.

Now she sat glumly on the bench, watching the crowds pass by and desperately trying to get her thoughts in order. She'd bought a bread roll from a streetside vendor for breakfast, but once she'd finished eating she'd found she had no idea what to do with herself. Despite her best efforts the answer had eluded her and she had already wasted the entire morning wallowing in her misery. She supposed she should keep moving on, to get further away from Konoha before the hunters found her, but despite her fears Hinata didn't even know if she could be bothered to run. Maybe it would be best just to let them find her and finish it, get it over with rather than spending a meaningless life on the run? At this point she didn't see how things could get any worse…

"HEY! HINATA! IT'S YOU, ISN'T IT, HINATA?"

The girl stiffened in shock as the familiar voice rang through the air. Oh no, not him. They couldn't have sent _him,_ could they…?

Grinning hugely, Uzumaki Naruto dropped from the rooftop to land lightly in front of her. While she felt the same surge of wamth seeing him as she always did, it was overwhelmed by waves of shame and humiliation. Naruto-kun was the one person she wouldn't have wanted to know about her disgrace and yet here he was, barely a day after she'd fled, chasing her down.

Naruto advanced on the flustered girl, relieved at finally finding her. "Hey Hinata, I'm so glad to have found you! You need to come back to the village with us right away, everyone's worried about you." He held his hand out to her, but Hinata shrank away from it, refusing to look at him.

"I… I can't," she whispered in a tiny voice. "I just can't… go back. Not anymore."

Naruto lowered his hand, somewhat lost for words. "But… Hinata, you _have_ to come back. Kurenai-sensei and Kiba and Shino are all worried about you and the old man said if we don't bring you back in three days he's gonna have to send the hunter-nin after you!" Hinata didn't respond, instead she just seemed to curl more inwards into herself. Naruto scratched the back of his head in confusion. He noticed something about her appearance that disturbed him. Hinata usually wore her forehead protector around her neck, hardly an uncommon style, it was the way she'd been wearing it in the team photo Kurenai-sensei had given them. But now it was missing. Had she lost it? Or even thrown it away in her distress?

The young ninja sat down on the bench next to the Hyuuga heiress. After a moment of silence he spoke again, more gently this time. "Hey… Hinata, can you tell me _why_ you can't come back?"

There was a long silence. Naruto wondered if the girl was going to answer at all, or even if she hadn't heard him, but his instincts told him to wait so he held his peace. Eventually she took a deep shuddering breath and looked at him with a pained expression on her face. "Naruto-kun… I can't be a ninja any more. I'm not strong enough to do it. And I just… I can't stand to keep letting everyone down and disappointing them."

Naruto was nonplussed. Neither Kurenai-sensei nor Hinata's two teammates had said anything about her being a disappointment or letting them down. On the contrary, they'd all praised how hard she tried and how she was constantly struggling to improve herself.

"Hey come on Hinata, there's no way that can be true," he insisted. "You graduated from the academy with the rest of us, right? Heck, I _know_ you got better grades than I did! You were given a forehead protector to prove you were worthy of becoming a genin, just like the rest of us. So there's no way you can be too weak to be a ninja, right?" He was proud of this sudden logical insight, but Hinata did not look cheered. On the contrary, she looked away from him and Naruto could have sworn she was blushing.

"But Naruto-kun, you and I are completely different," the short-haired girl mumbled. "Even if I got better grades in class, I always knew you'd be a better ninja than I could ever hope to be. You always knew what you wanted to be and you worked harder than anyone. Even if you failed, even when you fell, I watched you pick yourself back up and try again and again until you succeeded." While she'd been talking, Hinata's face had started to brighten, possibly even the ghost of a smile drifting across her features, but then it vanished. "But I'm not as strong as you. I keep failing at everything I do and I try to be like you, but I don't have your strength and courage. I can't keep believing in myself every time I fail like you can. And then Neji-niisan said that-"

"That's right, it was because of that bastard!" shouted Naruto suddenly, causing Hinata to jump and stare at him, startled. "I almost forgot I had to tell you that that guy is full of crap! Who does he think he is, huh? What does he know?" He jumped to his feet, fired up with righteous indignation. "Let's go back to Konoha right now! I want to give that guy a piece of my mind!" Enthusiasm getting the better of him, he reached down and gripped Hinata by the shoulders, lifting her to her feet. "Come on, Hinata!" he yelled, "The sooner we get back, the sooner you can have another go at that guy! Don't worry, I'll be with you. You're strong! This time you'll show him who the weak one is, right Hinata? Hinata…?"

As Naruto gazed into Hinata's wide white eyes from a distance of barely half a foot, her face flushed as crimson as a tomato. She could feel his strong hands touching her shoulders through the material of her jacket, could practically feel his breath on her lips. For a second she thought her brain was about to burst out of her ears, then she shrieked and shoved him away, her heart racing.

Taken by surprise, the blond genin stumbled backwards with a startled yell, then tripped and fell over, smacking his head against the ground. With a burst of white smoke, he vanished. Hinata stared at the place where Naruto had fallen for a moment before she realised what had happened- a shadow clone. Even so, now that the clone had dissipated Naruto-kun would surely know where she was, so she had only the briefest of reprieves. For a moment she was seized by indecision, torn between her desire to return home and her shame, before her nerve failed her again. She had to run quickly before the real Naruto found her. Grabbing her backpack, she desperately looked around for the best direction to flee in and ducked down a side alley. While she appreciated Naruto-kun's earnest desire to bring her back, the last thing she wanted was to disappoint his confidence in her by going back to continue her failures.

Stumbling over a discarded bucket, Hinata crashed out of the alley into the next street, putting her head down and running as fast as she could as fresh tears stung her eyes. She had to run, she had to run and run and run until even Naruto-kun had given up on her and forgotten her…

Not watching where she was going, Hinata failed to see the large group of burly men walking down the street towards her. At the last second she tried to dodge or stop herself, but she still slammed into the leader, almost knocking him over as she sprawled on the ground.

"Hey, watch where you're going, brat!" a harsh voice snapped at her angrily. A ham-sized fist grabbed her by the front of her jacket and roughly dragged her to her feet and she found herself staring into the angry, twisted face of the man she'd collided with. "You want to be taught some manners?"

Hinata trembled in his grip, stammering out apologies while she cursed her own clumsiness. "I- I'm sorry… I wasn't looking where I was going… I didn't mean-" She was cut off with a small shriek as the man shook her violently and shoved her back into the midst of his companions.

"You're 'sorry'?! Just 'sorry' ain't gonna cut it, little girl," the thug snarled."You could have really hurt me doing that. How you gonna make it up to me, huh?" The others crowded around Hinata, smirking unpleasantly. There were eight of them in all and they towered over the slight form of the trembling girl. The street was practically abandoned apart from them, shop fronts shut up and no other people in sight.

"Maybe if you go down on your knees in the dirt and beg we'll let you off," one suggested with a cruel laugh. "No, see if she's got any money," another cut in. Hinata shrank back in terror from their leers, desperately looking for an avenue of escape.

Suddenly another voice spoke from the back of the group, silencing the jeering. "I know what we can do with her," it said and all the others turned to look at the speaker. "If we take her to that place over in the third quarter we should be able to get quite a nice sum for a cute little thing like her."

Her pulse racing until she thought her heart was about to leap up into her mouth, Hinata turned around to look at the man who had just spoken and nearly fainted. He had lank bleached white hair, narrow eyes and a thin mouth twisted in the most unpleasant smile she'd ever seen. Unlike the rest of the thugs, who were dressed in a shabby assortment of nondescript clothing, the speaker –clearly the leader of the gang- wore tight-fitting, garish clothes studded with pouches and extraneous buckles. More importantly, across his brow was a forehead protector bearing the mark of Iwagakure, the Village of Stone. A missing-nin.

The man stalked towards her with measured steps and she backed away, trembling so hard she nearly fell over. "Yes, I think we should do well out of a pretty one like this," he said, reaching out to touch her face with a thin-fingered hand.

"HEY HINATA!" a voice yelled out, causing everyone to start at the interruption. Hope and despair warred in Hinata's heart as she looked up to the roof of the building nearby. The thugs followed her gaze and saw Uzumaki Naruto standing up there, arms folded cockily, smirking down at the scene. "What are you doing playing games with those losers?"

The thugs bristled, but the leader's eyes narrowed as he stepped away from Hinata and studied the interloper. "A ninja…?" he wondered aloud and with a start Hinata realised Naruto wasn't wearing his distinctive Konoha forehead protector. "Are you planning to interfere with us, brat?" The missing-nin shifted his position slightly and Hinata saw a kunai slip into his hand.

To the surprise of everyone present, the young man gave a derisive laugh. "'Interfere'? Why would I waste my time doing that?" For a moment Hinata thought her heart would stop. Was Naruto-kun so disgusted by her cowardice that he was going to abandon her to a horrible fate? But Naruto wasn't finished. "As if Hinata would need my help to deal with trash like you! You're about to find out what happens when you mess with one of the strongest genin in the village of Konoha!"

The thugs and their leader turned to look at their nonplussed victim with incredulous expressions plastered on every face. "What," blustered the man she'd first stumbled into, "you expect us to believe this little girl is a ninja?!"

Naruto flashed a grin as wide as a slice of watermelon, displaying his prominent canines. "What, you think I'm lying? Guess it's up to her to show you then. Hey Hinata, you forgot this when you left this morning!" His hand moved and a shining object trailing a long dark tail flew through the air. Hinata caught it reflexively and looked at it. It was a Konoha forehead protector- but despite Naruto's words, she could tell at a glance that it wasn't hers. She could feel the warmth of its recent wearer's body in the metal plate, smell the faint traces of hard work and determination from the headband. Naruto-kun had given her his own precious forehead protector. She looked back up at him again in bewildered wonder and the young ninja gave her an enthusiatic thumbs up. "OK Hinata, you finish up with these morons and I'll treat you to lunch. Try not to be too long about it. I'll be waiting for you!" Then he leaped off the other side of the building and vanished from sight.

As the thugs broke out into a confused argument, Hinata stared at the object she was holding. She knew how much Naruto-kun treasured his forehead protector, which he'd received from Iruka-sensei himself. It was proof of what he was, the very symbol of the village and the first step on his quest to become Hokage. Hinata had left her own protector on her bedside table when she'd run away, feeling unworthy of wearing it any longer- but Naruto-kun had entusted his to her, calling her 'one of the strongest genin in the village of Konoha'.

He had faith in her and there was no stronger vote of confidence he could have given her.

She would not betray his trust. Not this time.

As her assailants milled around her, Hyuuga Hinata, heir to the Hyuuga clan and genin of Konoha, slowly lifted Naruto's forehead protector and fastened it securely around her neck. Taking a deep breath and closing her eyes, she folded her hands into the necessary seal and whispered "Byakugan!"

A pulse ran through her body and her eyes opened again, the world snapping into stark relief. One of the men glanced at her and shouted a warning as the young kunoichi let her backpack slip off her shoulders and settled into the traditional jyuuken stance she'd been practicing since childhood. Their missing-nin leader swore as the group turned their attention back to her, half them taking a hasty step back. "Don't just stand there, you idiots," he yelled, reaching into one of his numerous pouches "grab her!"

The man she'd first collided with gave a furious roar and dived at her from behind, his arms wide in a clumsy attempt to trap her in a bearhug. Without even turning around she slipped beneath his outstretched arms like water, stepping smoothly aside as he stumbled through the space she'd just occupied and driving a palm into his side in passing. The thug retched and collapsed to the ground as her chakra wrapped around his internal organs and gave them a violent twist. Hinata didn't want to permanently damage these men, vile as they were they were still just common thugs, but that didn't mean she couldn't make things extremely unpleasant for them in the short term. She whipped around as another man charged her, swinging a meaty fist and deflected the blow with a rising strike that paralysed his arm all the way to the shoulder. The man stared in shock as the limb flopped numbly at his side and Hinata dropped him with a shot to the solar plexus. A third attacker tried to rush her, but his sandal slipped in the pool of vomit pooling around the head her first opponent and he stumbled into her, arms flailing wildly as he tried to keep his balance. She didn't give him a chance to recover.

The young shinobi had dropped three men in less than seven seconds and wasn't even breathing hard. The four remaining thugs and their ninja leader circled her warily as she settled back into her ready stance, two of them pulling knives from within their clothing, one brandishing a short cudgel and the last slipping on a pair of knuckledusters. This was no longer a matter of preying on a small defenceless girl; this was a fight to the finish. The leader's eyes narrowed as he reassessed her. "So," he hissed, "it looks like the other brat _wasn't_ completely full of it after all." He raised his hand, holding the kunai he'd pulled out earlier. "But let's see how you fare against Shogo the Dancing Blade!"

With an odd flicking movement he sent the kunai flying towards her chest. The weapon seemed to move through the air oddly slowly and Hinata easily dodged it with a smooth half-step to the side, not taking her eyes off the self-proclaimed 'Dancing Blade'. His mouth twisted into a smug, triumphant smile as his hands made a delicate gesture, but with the 360-degree vision granted by her Byakugan Hinata didn't even flinch as the kunai executed a sharp turn in the air behind her and headed back towards her spine.

With another subtle shift of her posture, Hinata let the blade pass under her right arm, then reached down and stroked the air behind it as it passed. Her fingers found the hair-thin, almost invisible wire leading from the kunai's ring back to her opponent's hand and in a heartbeat her chakra had overridden his control. With a single thought, Hinata redirected the weapon at one of the men edging towards her from the right as he raised his knife, striking the top of his sandaled foot and pinning it to the ground. The unfortunate man gave a yell of agony and fell backwards, dropping his knife as Hinata severed the wire with a short burst of chakra and launched herself towards Shogo before the shocked ninja could even mouth a curse.

Recovering himself, the Iwa missing-nin dodged the girl's palm strike by a hair and leapt away before she could follow up. Making a seal, a dozen copies of the man burst into existence around him, but Hinata's white eyes could see the thin chakra that animated the incorporeal clones. To her opponent's dismay, she ignored every one of the decoys and headed straight towards him. Shogo arched his spine backwards to dodge another chakra-infused palm strike aimed at his face, barely deflected a second one directed at his liver, then threw himself sideways into a swan dive, his useless clones dispersing as he did. Just before he struck the ground his hands formed a seal and he shouted "Doton: Earth Traversal jutsu!" Rather than sprawling in the dirt, the unpaved road parted like water under the earth ninja's body and he vanished from sight.

But not Hinata's sight. Her Byakugan tracked his chakra as the rogue ninja swam through the soil like an earthworm and she leapt aside as his hands burst from the ground beneath her feet, grasping for her ankles. Stamping down hard she ground the fingers of his right hand under her foot and watched as his left spasmed in agony before it was pulled back beneath the earth. Moving away from her, Shogo rose from the ground behind his remaining four cronies, cradling his throbbing fingers and glaring death at her. "You'll pay for that, you little bitch!" he spat furiously as he tried to massage feeling back into his hand. "I'm going to carve you up nice and slow."

Undaunted, Hinata met his gaze without flinching. She couldn't recall a time when she'd ever been so unafraid during combat. She could feel warmth around her neck where Naruto-kun's forehead protector sat close to her skin and the knowledge of his faith in her buoyed her up and gave her strength. "Not today," she said evenly, settling back into her stance and readying herself for the next attack. "Not ever."

With a few curt commands to his three upright flunkies –the last man was still on his backside, nursing his bleeding foot- Shogo disappeared back into the earth. The three thugs spread out as they advanced on Hinata, the middle one raising his cudgel to strike, the one on her left lowering his knife to thrust and the man on the right readying a metal-ringed fist. Hinata watched all three of them at once as she tracked the missing-nin's movement through the ground beneath her. He was trying to circle around behind her, but she made no movements that might indicate awareness of his position. She took a deep breath as she readied herself for the first strike.

A kunai burst from beneath the ground behind her on her right, slightly slowed by its passage through the soil but still with enough power to kill if it struck home. Hinata ducked and the blade whistled harmlessly over her head reaching back to slice through the wire trailing behind it with a casual flick of her hand, severing her opponent's control over the weapon. The man with the cudgel lunged forward as Hinata had bent forwards, bringing the weapon whistling down towards her exposed head, but the girl stepped forward inside his guard and slammed both palms forward into his torso, delivering a blast of chakra that drove his senses from him in a single strike. Shogo had continued to circle around beneath her, frustrated that his 'dancing blade' technique had been so easily foiled again. Another kunai flew up at her from the opposite side to the previous one and this time Hinata didn't have room to dodge as her attacker's unconscious form collapsed forward on top of her. Crouching lower, she let tossed the man's body over her head and let him tumble down behind her, the kunai glancing shallowly off his shoulderblade rather than burying itself at the base of her spine. As she disentangled herself from her human shield's limply flailing legs, her last two opponents hurled themselves at her from either side. Off balance, Hinata just managed to sway backwards, barely dodging the thrust of the knife aimed at her kidneys, feeling the wind as the knuckleduster almost clipped her nose. Her attackers, so certain their strikes would find their target, found themselves overbalancing and stumbled into each other, the knife-wielder barely managing to avoid spitting his partner on his blade.

It was too good an opportunity to pass up. Disregarding jyuuken, Hinata reached forward, grasped two handfuls of greasy hair and slammed their skulls together with a satisfying clunk. The thugs collapsed in a boneless heap. Easily dodging a third kunai from the hidden Shogo, again cutting his chakra wire with minimal effort, Hinata used her foot to flip the dropped cudgel up into her hand. The last member of the gang had finally staggered upright and was desperately trying to hobble to safety, blood trailing from his perforated foot. With a powerful twist of her wrist, Hinata sent the short wooden club spinning through the air to impact on the back of the man's head. Giving a short yelp, he dropped like a stone. Now only the leader remained. _I can do this!_ Hinata rejoiced in her head. _I can really do this! Naruto-kun, I wish you could see me now!_

Her enemy swam up through the earth beneath her again and the kunoichi stepped away cautiously, ready to counter any attack. The man's 'dancing blade' had proven itself to be no threat to her whatsoever, but that didn't mean she could drop her guard. A single hand thrust out of the ground just beyond her reach and Hinata's white eyes widened as it flicked the small ball-like object clenched in its fist at the ground in front of her. The bomb exploded in a thick cloud of choking black smoke, obscuring the area. Hinata gasped in surprise as she stepped back, reflexively squeezing her eyes shut. Her lungs burned as the smoke she'd accidentally inhaled flowed into them and she coughed violently as she dived away from the blast, desperately trying to reach the edge of the cloud. A normal smoke bomb would be no obstacle to the Byakugan, but her eyes burned with tears from some additive to the smoke which would have blinded her if she hadn't managed to close them in time.

Rolling over and over, Hinata pushed herself up onto her hands and knees just as she received a brutal kick to the ribs. She cried out in pain and forced her stinging eyes open just in time to see another strike coming for her. Moving with the force of the kick, she managed to ride the momentum to roll to her feet, her Byakugan-enhanced vision blurry but still active. The figure of the Iwa missing-nin stood in front of her and she heard him laugh cruelly as she tried to resume her jyuuken stance. Suddenly another cough wracked her body and her left leg sagged as she put weight on it, almost pitching her to the ground again. A wave of weakness swept through her body and her head swam with dizziness.

"How do you like my special poison smoke bombs, little girl?" the renegade called out to her. "One breath and you're already finished. Oh it won't kill you, never fear, but you'll be in slumberland in seconds- and then I'll get to have my fun!" He waved a kunai mockingly and leered at her. "I think I'll take my time scarring that pretty face of yours and I'll start by cutting out those special eyes. I'd like to keep them as a souvenir." He tossed the kunai to his left hand and bunched his right one into a fist. "Now I _could_ just wait for the poison to make you fall over before I begin, but I can't be bothered waiting and honestly, where's the fun in that?" Grinning wolfishly, he leaped high into the air towards his victim, raising his hand to bring it smashing down on her head.

Her eyes half-closed and her control over her chakra slipping, Hinata struggled not to keel over as the enemy flew through the air towards her. _Was it all for nothing?_ she asked herself as she watched his blurry figure descending on her, as if in slow-motion. _Was I too weak after all? Will I fail again?_

Naruto-kun's words came back to her as the darkness started to close over her. _"You're strong!"_ She felt his forehead protector at her throat. _"I'll be waiting for you!"_

He was waiting, even now.

Would she fail him?

_No!_

As Shogo sailed down towards the staggering girl, he saw every muscle in her body tense at once. Her head snapped up and her white gaze focussed to a laser intensity as her body contracted then uncoiled in a single fluid motion. His blow descended towards her but she wasn't there. Lunging upwards off the ground with every ounce of her remaining strength, Hyuuga Hinata drove her palm upwards, her jyuuken strike driving straight into the middle of the missing-nin's chest. The breath was smashed from his lungs, her chakra lanced through every fibre of his body and agony engulfed his brain in an all-encompassing cloud that blasted his senses from him in an instant. For a second they were frozen in a shocking tableau, the unconscious man suspended limply above the head of the petite girl, skewered on her outstretched palm, before Hinata shifted her weight and tossed him to the ground.

Hinata coughed weakly as she looked down on her defeated opponent and the thugs sprawled across the street. She had done it. She'd won. Completely drained, she swayed as the withdrawal of adrenaline took its toll. Her Byakugan collapsed, unable to sustain it any longer even if she'd needed to, and her eyelids felt like they were made of lead. Fatigue wracked her body as she was unable to fight off the poison she'd inhaled any longer. But as unconsciousness finally claimed her, she felt no shame for once, only pride. She hadn't failed.

_Naruto-kun… was I strong?_

As she pitched forward into the endless darkness, she could have sworn she felt strong arms catch her in a gentle embrace.

oooOOOooo

Naruto caught Hinata in his arms as she finally collapsed into unconsciousness. To his relief she seemed to be merely sleeping, a small but satisfied smile on her face. Aside from the effects of the smoke bomb the only blows she'd taken in the fight had been the two kicks the missing-nin had delivered to her side, so she appeared to be uninjured.

His shadow clones leaped down from the surrounding rooftops to join him, one of them giving the unconscious Shogo an ungentle prod in the ribs with his foot in passing. Naruto had, of course, been watching the entire fight from hiding and had been prepared to bury the attackers in a rain of orange if it looked like Hinata was in real danger, but he had been gratified to see that, as he'd hoped, his intervention hadn't been needed. He was rather proud of himself for coming up with the idea of letting things play out like this- although the end had been a bit close, Hinata had more than lived up to his best hopes and achieved something she should be really proud of.

With a few quick orders he dispatched most of the clones to seek out Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan and Keiji to report he'd found the target, one to find the local constabulary and inform them of the defeat of the gang and the last few to tie the thugs and their renegade boss up for the authorities.

Lifting Hinata carefully into his arms, Naruto himself took to the rooftops again, sprinting for the edge of Sumigawa. He thought it might be a good idea to take her somewhere quiet to recover and on the way into town he'd spotted what he thought was an ideal place.

oooOOOooo

Hinata's eyelids fluttered as she felt a gentle breeze caressing her cheeks. Slowly opening her white eyes, she found herself gazing up at the swaying branches and leaves of a large tree. She felt grass under her back and could tell she was lying on an incline, with something soft supporting her head. The air was sweet, the breeze was soothing and the young kunoichi had never felt so comfortable. She craned her head back to get try and get her bearings.

An upside-down smiling face with whisker-like marks on its cheeks and topped with spiky blond hair appeared in her line of sight, beaming down at her. "You awake, Hinata?"

Energy surged through Hinata's body in an instant as she shot bolt upright from where she was lying with her head in Naruto's lap. Her face was glowing with embarassment. She wondered just how long she'd been lying there with Naruto-kun cradling her head, gazing down at her sleeping face, maybe gently stroking her cheeks and forehead… Her blush deepened and she found herself wishing she knew the Earth Traversal jutsu so she could dig down into the ground and bury herself.

"N- N- N- N- Naruto-kun!" the girl stammered. "I- I- I- I'm OK now, thank you very much!" She hastily tried to push herself to her feet, but her legs were still wobbly and she tumbled backwards. Naruto caught her by the arms and gently lowered her back down to a sitting position before scooting across the grass so he could sit alongside her.

Now she'd caught her breath and got her panic under control, Hinata took a look around her at her surroudings. The two of them were sitting on the slope near the top of a small hill about half a kilometre beyond the outskirts of Sumigawa, topped by an ancient tree which spread its branches over a massive span. It was the only landmark of its like as far as the eye could see and Hinata wondered if it had some kind of special significance to the locals. It was already starting to get late in the day and the winter sun was beginning to fall low over the western mountains, casting glowing orange light across the scene.

The two genin sat in silence, just drinking in the view. For a perfect moment, Hinata felt happy and at peace, sitting together with the boy she admired watching the setting sun. But she knew it couldn't last; sooner or later one of the would have to break the silence to resolve the question hanging in the air between them. Taking a deep breath, much as she wanted to just stay like this a little longer, she decided it might as well be her.

"Naruto-kun." The blond-haired boy looked at her, his bright blue eyes inviting her to speak, but not pressuring her, encouraging her to open up to him. Hinata blushed and stared at her fingers as she nervously twiddled them together in front of her. "Thank you for what you did today. I don't think I- I know I couldn't have done that if you hadn't believed in me so strongly."

Naruto blinked at her and grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. "Aw, don't say that, Hinata. Like I said, you're strong and I already knew it. Kurenai-sensei, Kiba and Shino all told me you were and I knew from watching how hard you worked in the academy."

Hinata's breath caught in her throat. Naruto-kun had been watching her? She'd always watched him, but she'd never imagined that he had even noticed her as she took inspiration from his example. She smiled to herself at the thought, her cheeks glowing. "Um… that's not… um… thank you, Naruto-kun."

There was a brief awkward pause before Naruto softly spoke again. "So Hinata… do you think you're ready to come back with us to Konoha?"

The girl tensed and bit her lip. "I… I don't know, Naruto-kun. Today was… today I think I was strong, I did well, but… I still don't think I can be like that every time I need to be." Taking a deep breath she tried to look him in the face, but couldn't. "Today you were waiting for me, I had to win because you had confidence in me, but I… I just don't have confidence in myself!" She buried her face in her knees in shame in the wake of her confession.

"That's easy then!" Hinata jerked her head up at Naruto's confident assertion and stared in surprise at his unwavering smile, white eyes reflecting his blue. "If that's all it takes then all you need to do is remember that I'll _always_ have confidence in you." He held out his hand towards her. "I'll make you a promise- for as long as you keep trying without giving up, even when you fail, just remember that I'll believe in you so you can stay strong. And I'll do anything I can to help you. OK Hinata?"

Practically in shock at his words, Hinata stared at the hand he was offering her. Almost without realising what she was doing, she lifted her own, hesitated for a moment, then clasped Naruto's warm hand in hers. As he gripped and shook it his smile spread across his entire face until it shone like the sun. "Great, it's a promise! By the time I've become Hokage, you'll be able to look back and realise that you've been a great ninja all along! Trust me!"

As Naruto released his grip on her slender hand, Hinata's shoulders began to shake. Tears filled her pearly eyes and began to trickle down her pale cheeks as silent sobs wracked her body. Naruto recoiled as if the girl had suddenly burst into flames. Had he said something wrong or insensitive without realising? "Wha-? Hinata, I- wait! I'm sorry! I- what did I…?" He reached out hesitantly for the weeping girl, unsure of what to do, when her hands suddenly shot out towards him.

He cringed as Hinata gripped his orange jacket with both hands, expecting her to visit some act of violence on him for his unknown slight. Instead she dragged her face into his chest and started crying in earnest, her tears running down her cheeks and dampening his clothing. After a moment of startled indecision he gingerly wrapped his arms around the weeping girl and patted her comfortingly on the back, making what he hoped were vaguely soothing noises.

As several awkward moments passed, her sobs resolved themselves into whispered words. "Naruto-kun… Naruto-kun… thank you…I promise, Naruto-kun… I promise… thank you." She pushed herself up off his chest and rubbed her face with her sleeve. Naruto looked at her and saw that although tears still brimmed in her eyes, she was smiling, more happily than he'd ever seen her before. A sudden random thought struck him at that moment- when she smiled, Hinata was actually quite pretty. He wondered how he'd never managed to notice that before. "Let's go home, Naruto-kun. To Konoha."

The boy smiled back at her and nodded. "Absolutely!" Springing to his his feet he turned back and offered Hinata his hand again, helping her up. "Kakashi-sensei, Sakura-chan and Keiji must be waiting for us by now. It's probably too late for us to start back today, Keiji can't travel in the dark- oh, you haven't met Kyoshun Keiji yet have you, Hinata? Well he has funny eyes and can't see very well in front of him but- oh I know, we'll explain the whole thing to you over dinner. Sorry it's too late for me to buy you lunch now, I tell you what, I'll stand you a bowl of ramen when we get back home, OK? Have you been to Ichiraku? They make the BEST ramen in the world and…"

Chattering happily away, Naruto led the smiling Hinata by the hand back towards the town.

oooOOOooo

Hyuuga Hiashi frowned at his eldest daughter as she knelt on the tatami mat before him. She held herself upright, facing directly ahead without moving, waiting for him to speak. "Hinata. In your absence, the clan has come to a decision. In light of your recent failures, your lack of courage when challenged by a member of the branch family and your shameful conduct in fleeing from the village, we have concluded that you are not fit to suceed the leadership of the Hyuuga clan. The position of heir shall be passed to Hanabi. She shows great potential and is already committed to not repeating your mistakes. Is this understood, Daughter?"

Hinata's face was impassive as she absorbed her father's words. It wasn't as if she hadn't expected this. Hiashi had often made his disappointment with her progress and his preference for Hanabi clear to her and he had only supported her position as their heir because tradition dictated the elder would inherit. But tradition could be overturned when the circumstances justified it and even she acknowledged that these were such circumstances. She nodded calmly. "I understand, Father."

Hiashi paused in his pacing to look at his eldest child. Hinata had always taken after her mother more than himself. While he had loved her dearly, Hyuuga Hotaru had not been raised as a ninja. She had been a quiet, gentle woman, a loving and supporting wife and a perfect mother. He'd long suspected that Hinata had inherited her temperament as well as her beauty, but while Hotaru had possessed a core of firm strength hidden under her gentle exterior, Hinata had always seemed to be only weak. But this sudden reserve of tranquil calm she was displaying now reminded him of his late wife more than ever.

The head of the Hyuuga clan sighed. "In truth, I must admit that we had been placing unreasonable expectations on you, Hinata. It seems clear you were simply not suited to lead the clan in the first place. One would not harness a housecat to a wagon and expect it to do the work of a draft horse." Now that the decision had been made to relieve the girl of her responsibilities to the clan, Hiashi was actually quite relieved that he no longer had to be so strict with her and could speak more plainly. He smiled slightly at his daughter. "As Hanabi will be assuming the responsibilities of the heir, you no longer need to continue your training as a ninja. I shall inform your sensei and teammates tomorrow of this decision. I am sure we can find a more appropriate role for you to fulfill within the clan."

"No, Father."

Hiashi blinked. Where had _that_ come from?

"I- I beg your pardon Hinata, what did you just say?"

"No, Father. I acknowledge your wisdom in designating Hanabi-chan to replace me as the heir to the family and I expect she will carry out her duties impeccably." Hinata raised her head to look her father directly in his pearl-white eyes. "But I do not wish to discontinue my ninja training."

Hiashi floundered in confusion at this sudden and unexpected response. He hadn't foreseen this at _all,_ certainly not after Hinata had accepted being stripped of her position so calmly. He scrambled to collect his scattered thoughts. "But… after you've struggled at it for so long, why would you want to continue as a ninja now that the clan no longer requires it of you?" he managed.

"I do not wish to be a ninja for the clan, Father," the girl answered, her voice steady and clear. "I wish to be one for myself and for…" she hesitated for a moment, "my friends. I… made a promise."

For the first time in years, Hyuuga Hiashi found himself simply speechless. Hinata had never insisted on anything before in her entire life, never spoken about what she wanted. He stared into his daughter's eyes and saw nothing but firm resolve, a strength he'd never seen there before. Coming to a decision, he took a deep breath.

"Very well, Daughter, you may continue on as a ninja. The word of a Hyuuga, whether of the family head or the youngest child of the clan, is inviolate." Relaxing a little, he gave the girl a small smile. "And let me just say that I am glad you returned to us unharmed, Hinata."

Hinata blinked in surprise and returned the smile. "Thank you, Father." She bowed to the clan head and and rose to her feet. "Now if I may be excused, I have personal matters I must attend to. I do not expect I will be home until after dinner." Her father gave her a quizzical look, but dismissed her with a gentle wave and strode from the room, leaving the young kunoichi alone.

The girl took a deep breath as the tension drained from her body, leaving only a profound sense of relief. _Thank you, Father. For understanding. Thank you so much._

oooOOOooo

Naruto waited outside the gates of the Hyuuga compound, leaning against one of the huge gateposts with his hands behind his head, idly kicking up small clouds of dust with the toe of his sandal. By leaving first thing in the morning the team and Hinata had reached the gates of Konoha about an hour after lunch the next day, with over a day to spare before the Hokage's mandated deadline. Their first port of call had been the Hokage's office to report the success of their mission and he'd been gratified to have been there when Kurenai-sensei had shown up with Kiba and Shino in tow. The female jounin had been so glad to see her student again that she'd swept Hinata into a full-blown hug, causing the girl to blush happily. Kiba had mussed her hair affectionately and even Shino had voiced his relief at seeing her again- in his usual stoic manner, of course.

The Hokage had been stern with Hinata at first, but had also been understanding. Genin were expected to make mistakes so in his eyes punishment was not necessary as long as they would not be repeated. There would be no further repercussions from Hinata's decision to go AWOL and Hinata promised she would never repeat her lapse again. She had glanced across at Naruto as she made this promise and he had grinned knowingly at her. The Hokage had also been happy to inform Hinata that she was due a reward for taking down the missing-nin Shogo from Iwagakure. It wasn't a large bounty -the man was no Uchiha Itachi, only a freshly-minted and unexceptional chuunin who had recklessly decided to abandon his village to turn his abilities to selfish ends- but the both the Hokage and Hinata's team had been very impressed with her accomplishment nonetheless, especially after Naruto's effusive praise of her courage and strength.

After that Hinata had needed to return to her home to see her father, the clan head, while Team 7 finished their report to the Hokage. She had, however, arranged to meet with Naruto once he was free in order to return his forehead protector. The boy had insisted that Hinata keep his until she had a chance to recover her own from where she'd left it on her bedside table. He felt naked without anything on his forehead and he'd received a few questioning looks from his teammates and the Hokage, but he somehow knew it was the right thing to do for Hinata.

A few people gave him dark looks as they walked past, possibly wondering what business the outcast child had waiting outside the household of the most prestigious clan in the village and he scowled back at them defensively. He really hoped Hinata wouldn't be getting into too much trouble with her family over this. It was already starting to get late and he was starting to worry. An unpleasant thought suddenly struck him; what if she was grounded and forbidden to leave the house for an indefinite period? Would anyone even think to tell him, or would he be left standing out here until moss had grown on him? And how would he get his forehead protector back? He felt like only half a ninja without it.

This troubling line of thought was interrupted by the sound of the large wooden gate next to him creaking open. He turned his head as Hinata slipped through and shut the door behind her, then straightened up and trotted over to meet her. "Hinata! How did it go with your father? You didn't get into too much trouble, did you?" he inquired anxiously. To his relief the girl shook her head. For some reason though, he'd noticed that she was avoiding looking at him again, pressing her index fingers together in that instinctive nervous habit he'd noticed before.

"No, it was fine, Naruto-kun, thank you." She looked at her feet nervously before reaching into her pocket. "Um, Naruto-kun, I'm sorry for being so selfish after all you've done for me already, but I was hoping you'd… um, you'd be able to do me this favour. Um, would you listen, please?"

The boy blinked. "Uh, sure thing Hinata. What is it?"

In response, the girl drew her hand from her pocket and held it out to Naruto. Her other hand brushed her fingers across the Konoha forehead protector around her throat. Naruto looked at the object she was offering to him. It was a forehead protector, but just looking at it he could tell it wasn't his. With a sudden flash of insight, he realised Hinata was still wearing the forehead protector he'd given her back in Sumigawa, which meant the one she was holding out to him had to be-

"Um, Naruto-kun, I know this is a big thing for me to ask but… is it OK if I keep your forehead protector and give you this one please?" Hinata blushed from her head to her toes at the audacity of her request, but stood her ground and waited for Naruto to respond.

Naruto stared at the girl and the forehead protector in her hand as he considered what she'd asked. He couldn't understand why Hinata could possibly prefer to keep his forehead protector instead of the one she'd earned herself. He was very attached to his protector, after all he'd received it from Iruka-sensei when he'd acknowledged Naruto as a ninja, so as a gift from an important person to him it was especially precious… oh so THAT was it! Enlightenment dawned.

"Oh, I get it, Hinata!" he said cheerfully and the girl looked up at him nervously. "That forehead protector always gave me confidence because it belonged to Iruka-sensei, so it was like he was always with me- so if you take it, it'll be like he's always with you too!" Naruto folded his arms and nodded sagely. "Yes, that's understandable. Iruka-sensei is a great teacher after all, so I'm sure it'll be reassuring for you to keep his forehead protector with you. I'll miss it, but I'm sure you'll look after it just as well as I did."

Hinata stared at him, nonplussed. "No… Naruto-kun, that's… well…" she protested weakly, before giving up. Maybe for now this would be enough. "Yes, that's right Naruto-kun," she finished lamely. "I promise I'll look after it. So…" She offered her protector to him again.

Naruto took it from her hand and without hesitation tied it in place around his head. Slipping his thumb under the band to adjust its height above his eyes, he grinned at Hinata. "Great! Now it's like _you're_ with me all the time too, Hinata!" He turned to look down the street towards the main business district of Konoha. "Come on, let's go! I promised I'd treat you to Ichiraku for dinner, didn't I?" As he started to leave he noticed his companion hadn't moved. "Hinata? Whats the matter?"

The girl came out of her reverie with a start. For whatever reason, she hadn't thought of it that way. Blushing again, she set off after the boy she admired so much. "Uh, yes, I'm coming, Naruto-kun!" The two of them walked down the street in search of dinner.

"I feel like getting beef with an extra egg tonight! How about you, Hinata?"

"Um, I like miso usually. Or maybe I'll have negi-miso."

"That's a good idea, Ichiraku does a great miso ramen. I'm sure old man Teuchi will give you some extra negi if we ask him nicely."

"Um, Naruto-kun, that's not…"

"Oh it's no trouble, I'm eat there all the time and Teuchi and Ayame-neechan are really nice folks. They're sure to like you too, Hinata. After all, you're such an easy person to like …hey, Hinata? What's wrong? You've gone really red again."

TO BE CONTINUED…

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot and I'm very, very happy with how it turned out. As I mentioned in chapter 1, it was my desire to write this chapter that actually drew me back to writing in the first place. I hope I didn't overdo it with all the angst and WAFF and drama, but I think I managed to capture Naruto's and Hinata's personalities correctly- especially Naruto's good-hearted obliviousness to Hinata's feelings and Hinata's shyness overlying her inner courage. I know most of the other characters didn't get much of a go this chapter, but this was really a short 2-character piece.

As I mentioned back in my notes for chapter 1, this is actually the chapter that got me back into writing. After my original story concept stalled on chapter 2, I completely stopped writing anything until Christmas 2011. I'd been getting back into reading a lot of Naruto fanfiction myself, so on a whim I pulled out my laptop and just started writing. This chapter was the result and everything I do basically emerged from here.

The sequence of events leading to this chapter should be pretty obvious and you may have seen it coming when I set it up in chapter 2: Team 7 didn't enter the chuunin exam, so obviously Naruto wasn't there for Hinata when Neji gave her his little 'you suck' speech. It's pretty obvious that Hinata would have thrown in the towel without Naruto's support, and I just extrapolated from there. Of course, that's not to say that the preliminaries unfolded EXACTLY as they did in canon, it was just a nasty coincidence that Hinata found herself matched up against Neji AGAIN.

I really wanted to avert the 'abusive heartless bastard' characterisation of Hiashi I see in so many Hinata-centric stories. That's NOT how he's portrayed in canon, he's just stern and demanding, but I worry I may have gone too far in the other direction. Nah, probably not. I think it's nice to see a Hiashi who clearly cares for his daughter for once, even if it is only after he's cut her off from her legacy. Please don't ask about whether this means Hinata needs to receive the Caged Bird Seal; that damn thing never made any sense (what, so there's only one Hyuuga in each GENERATION who is included in the main family?) so I'm just not bothering with it. It's my story, I have that right. I can assure you it won't end up being an issue anyway.

You may be wondering right now whether this is a "NaruHina fic". It's not. Oh sure, I personally ship Naruto with Hinata, I love that couple, but this isn't a 'shipping fic', it's an action drama. But all the same, will Naruto and Hinata end up together? _You'll have to wait and see._

In case you were wondering, my favourite ramen type is karaage chicken ramen.

NEXT TIME:

A simple mission turns deadly when a long-forgotten enemy seeks revenge. Will it be life or death, or are there fates worse than death? Find out in **Naruto: The Secret Songs of the Ninja chapter 4- The Song of Bloody Tears.**

- Arcane Azmadi


	4. Chapter 4

NARUTO: THE SECRET SONGS OF THE NINJA.

**Disclaimer:** No. Just, no.

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Chapter 4- The Song of Bloody Tears.

Uzumaki Naruto yawned languidly as the wagon rumbled down the road. The midday sun was perfect for dozing under and the rocking of the wagon under him was kind of soothing, although the occasional pothole would jarr him awake when he was close to dropping off.

Team 7 had been on the road for six days now, escorting the five-wagon merchant caravan from Tanzaku Gai in Fire Country to the town of Hosokusa in Earth Country. The mission was only C-ranked as there had been little to no bandit activity reported in the area recently and the convoy, tended by a dozen men, wasn't carrying anything that would attract 'unique' attention, but the caravan master had preferred to hire a shinobi bodyguard from Konoha before setting out "just in case".

In any event, so far it had seemed like the man's caution had been unfounded. The three genin and their jounin sensei had been keeping a keen eye out for any possible threats ever since the start of the journey, but so far they hadn't come across so much as an irate badger, let alone a screaming horde of bandit looters.

And so, by the sixth day of the trip Naruto was napping in the sun on the wooden roof of the only fully-enclosed wagon which belonged to the convoy leader, Hatake Kakashi was riding in the back of another wagon rereading an old volume of 'Icha Icha Paradise', Haruno Sakura was studying scrolls on chakra control theory and Kyoshun Keiji was idly practicing with his shuriken, hurling them into the trunks of trees growing by the side of the road ahead of them as the wagons approached and jumping down to retrieve his weapons whenever they drew level.

They were scheduled to arrive at Hosokusa by midday tomorrow. Since it would only take a bit more than three days for the ninja team to arrive back at Konohagakure travelling at their normal speed, they should return with more than a day to spare before the finals of the chuunin exam. While more than a little disappointed that he hadn't been allowed to take part himself, Naruto was still looking forward to watching the finals. Some of his old classmates would be participating- as well as Hinata's teammates Kiba and Shino, that lazy-ass Shikamaru had somehow made it through. Naruto had asked the legendary procrastinator how he'd ended up doing that, but the boy had just shrugged and said "it may be a hassle, but I DO have my pride" and had refused to elaborate further, other than some muttering about loud-mouthed women.

Naruto stretched luxuriously in the warm sun, listening the creaking of the wagon wheels and the regular 'vssssssss-thunk' of Keiji's shuriken. While he would have preferred something a bit more exciting than this, he had to admit that just taking time out to laze around sometimes was nice. Shikamaru may have been onto something.

His daydreaming was interrupted by a sudden 'TWOING-fwupfwupfwupfwupfwupfwup' which ended with another 'THUNK' as something hit the wooden roof of the wagon right beside Naruto's head. Trying to not make any sudden movements Naruto turned his head to the side to see one of Keiji's shuriken buried in the woodwork barely an inch from his left ear. "Sorry about that!" came a cheerful voice from further up the convoy. Naruto didn't think Keiji sounded sorry at all. "I was trying to see if I could redirect a shuriken by hitting it with another one in midair and I think I hit that one badly. Let me try again-"

Naruto decided now would be a good moment to remonstrate with his overenthusiastic teammate while he still had both of his ears.

oooOOOooo

That evening, Team 7 sat around the campfire they shared, separate from the rest of the men in the caravan. The convoy had stopped near the edge of a small forest, less than half a day from their destination. It had been Keiji's turn to cook again. Despite Naruto's and Sakura's initial misgivings, while his range was somewhat limited, their teammate had turned out to be perfectly competent, at least as long as you didn't move any of the ingredients or utensils around while he was using them. Naruto had learned that lesson from the first time Keiji had cooked during their herb-gathering mission, when he'd accidentally put a packet of firelighters down next to the packet of curry cubes Keiji had been about to add to the recipe. To put it mildly, the result had been a bit of a taste sensation.

This time, though, there had not been any unfortunate accidents and the team were able to dig into a serviceable portion of curry rice. As they were finishing the meal (Naruto and Sakura watched carefully, but despite his plate steadily emptying throughout the meal they never saw how Kakashi-sensei slipped his spoon past his everpresent mask) the caravan master, their employer, strode over from the main campfire. Sukebiwa Taryo was a heavily-built man who, despite it not being especially cool even for winter, kept himself permanently bundled up in heavy clothing that covered his entire body. His face and head were completely covered by a cloth wrap that left only his dark eyes exposed and he moved with a ponderous deliberation.

"Kakashi-san," he wheezed. The man had a raspy and strangely nasal voice completely at odds with his bulky appearance which Naruto found rather off-putting. "I trust there's been nothing to report from today?"

"Sukebiwa-san," the jounin acknowledged gravely, the same way he'd done every night when their employer had come to ask them the same question. "No, nothing to report. No suspicious persons, no strange anomalies, nobody watching us. This looks like being an uneventful journey after all."

The caravan master nodded. "It has been so far," he rasped "although whether that's in spite of your presence or because of it I wouldn't care to guess. We'll be arriving tomorrow so let us hope it remains so." Without further comment the merchant turned and headed back to join his companions.

Keiji shivered. "That guy… he kind of creeps me out."

Kakashi-sensei gave his newest student a mildly reproving look with his single visible eye. "While he's definitely not the most sociable person I've ever met, you shouldn't be so easily put off, Keiji. I've seen –and fought- people a thousand times more disturbing than an oddly-dressed merchant with a raspy voice." The experienced jounin shook his head slightly. "The world of the ninja is vast and at times bizarre, but you need to take everything in its stride."

"That's right!" Sakura chimed in. "The Aburame clan of Konoha, for example, live their entire lives with hordes of chakra-eating insects living in their bodies and they're great allies to have on our side!" She giggled. "And you're hardly the most normal person yourself, Keiji-kun. You may be able to spot a fly on a tree from half a mile away, but remember when we first met and you couldn't even shake our hands properly?"

Keiji blushed slightly –as did Sakura when she suddenly remembered what part of her Keiji _did _grasp on their first meeting- but then he noticed that the last member of their team had gone a little grey. "Naruto? What's the matter?"

"The Aburame clan?" the boy asked nervously. "You mean, like, Aburame Shino? From our academy class? On Kurenai-sensei's team with Kiba and Hinata?"

Exchanging a perplexed glance with Keiji and Kakashi-sensei, Sakura nodded uncertainly. "Um, that's right Naruto, Shino-san is the son of the family head, Aburame Shibi. Why are you asking?"

"You mean for all those years in class," Naruto persisted, going even paler, "I was sitting next to a guy full of _bugs_ and no-one told me?!"

oooOOOooo

It was finally time. The arrogant fool and his clueless brats had become lax after days of lazing around with nothing to do. Once darkness had completely fallen and they'd all retired to their beds, they'd be his.

And they would suffer.

After more than a decade, the time for revenge had arrived.

oooOOOooo

Lying in his bedroll, Naruto shifted uneasily in his sleep. Despite his rough childhood, he'd only rarely been bothered by unpleasant dreams while he'd been growing up. Up until recently, the worst nightmare he'd ever experienced had been the one one where the Hokage monument had come alive and turned into an enormous four-headed monster which had picked him up with a pair of gigantic chopsticks and dunked him into a huge bowl of ramen before eating him as punishment for all the times he'd defaced it. While it had been unnerving and had certainly dissuaded him from repeating the prank in the future (at least for a while) it hadn't bothered him any further in the light of day.

But over the last few weeks, especially since he'd heard Keiji's story, his dreams had taken a distinctly nasty turn.

The cold air chilled him to the bone and his sandals splashed in the water puddling on the stone beneath him. All around him was fog, but through the mists he could make out the tall, rectangular shapes of the mirrors surrouding him. His breath clouding in front of him and merging with the all-encompassing mist, the genin spun around, trying to watch all directions at once, desperate to catch a glimpse of the enemy he knew was out there somewhere. But nothing moved.

As he turned, his foot struck something soft, nearly causing him to trip. Knowing what it was but unable to stop himself, Naruto looked down. The lifeless body of Uchiha Sasuke, countless senbon needles piercing his flesh, lay at his feet, blood slowly tricking from his many wounds. Naruto staggered back from his friend's corpse, guilt, grief and anger mingling is his mind. Unable to look at the grim sight any longer, he fell to his knees and screamed in impotent fury.

But this time there was no answering sensation of alien rage, no surge of power to carry him to vengeance on a tidal wave of hate. There was only the empty pain in his heart and his meaningless screams being absorbed into the fog, trailing off into weak sobs. Naruto bitterly wondered where Haku was, when he was going to come back and finish the job, when all of a sudden the silence was rent by a high-pitched scream of terror-filled agony, followed by an old man's cry of pain, which cut off into a choking gurgle. Further off in the distance there was the gruesome sound of metal ripping through flesh. Naruto raised his head and stared out into the fog in terror, just as it began to disperse.

Within seconds the mist had cleared. Beyond the cage of ice mirrors, the blank-masked form of Haku stood over the body of old man Tazuna. Behind him Sakura-chan was sprawled lifeless on the ground, her beautiful pink hair stained with darker spots of red. The menacing form of Momochi Zabuza stalked towards him from further down the bridge, his massive sword braced across his shoulder with one hand, his other holding a severed human head by its spiky silver hair. Naruto could only stare, trembling in terror, as Zabuza stopped next to Haku and glared at him, eyes burning with contempt. Even through the mask Naruto could tell Haku's eyes carried the same scornful look. Too terrified even to flee, he waited for the two killers to finish him off, but neither of them moved. To them, he wasn't even worth killing.

Suddenly Naruto felt the dampness on the surface of the bridge rising, soaking his knees, then his thighs and he felt himself starting to sink. Looking down in shock, he realised the trickle of blood from Sasuke's corpse had increased to a torrent and it was rising higher and higher without stopping. His teammates' bodies had already disappeared beneath the gruesome flow and Naruto struggled desperately as he sank to his chest. Something dragged him down as the blood rose to cover his shoulders, then his head, flowing into his mouth and filling his lungs. Somewhere he heard a mocking, bestial laughter.

oooOOOooo

With a choked gasp Naruto woke from his nightmare- to find that one part was all too real. He was sinking rapidly into a mire and for a panicked moment thought the sea of blood had followed him into the waking world, until he realised the truth: the earth beneath his bedroll had been transmuted to a swamplike bog, causing it to rapidly submerge him. The boy gave a yell of alarm, trying to force himself upright to a sitting position, but found it hard to get a purchase on the marshy surface. He heard a shriek from his left as the mire spilling over the edge of her bedroll woke Sakura and a yell of "What the-?" from a startled Keiji. Desperately twisting his head, Naruto caught a glimpse of Kakashi-sensei's unmoving form disappearing beneath the surface, incredibly still asleep. Just beyond the edge of the marshy area he spotted the source- a dark figure crouching on the edge of the bog with one hand pressed to the ground, clearly maintaining some kind of earth-based transmutation jutsu. Naruto thrashed helplessly as he felt his lower body being sucked down, barely managing to keep his head above the surface.

Suddenly a burst of smoke puffed out of the sucking hole Kakashi-sensei's sleeping form had vanished into and their assailant leaped away as a trio of kunai struck the ground where he'd been crouching, missing him by inches. The unmistakeable form of Kakashi-sensei landed in the spot his target had just vacated, another kunai in either hand "Naruto! Sakura! Keiji!" he shouted "Are you three alright?"

The young genin bit back a sarcastic response as he realised that, now the unknown ninja's jutsu had been interrupted, the bog had ceased to grow and he was no longer being sucked down. But as he flailed helplessly in the ooze he also realised he wasn't going to be able to extricate himself on his own. "I'm OK sensei, but I'm kind of stuck!" he yelled back.

"Sensei?" came the confused voice of Keiji. "What's going on? I can't see anything!"

Sakura didn't immediately respond and for a moment Naruto feared she'd been pulled under, but a series of sticky sucking noises to his left caught his attention. With painful slowness the young kunoichi was dragging herself up above the mire, her hands braced on the viscous surface as if she was climbing out at the edge of a swimming pool. "I think I got this, Kakashi-sensei," she gasped. "It's kind of like climbing trees, right?"

Despite the situation, the copy-ninja couldn't help but be impressed by his student's ability. Walking on unstable surfaces such as water was a basic ability for ninja, so jutsu such as the Bottomless Swamp technique that had trapped his team generally relied on surprise for their effectiveness, but once a ninja was caught in them it was usually too late to recover. More importantly, while he'd taught Naruto and Sakura the tree-climbing exercise, he hadn't gone as far as the more difficult water-walking yet. Nevertheless Sakura seemed to have not only worked it out on her own, but even to have mastered it by instinct. The girl seemed to be living up to her potential after all.

No time to compliment her now, though. "Sakura, help the other two" he called to her, glancing around him for any sign of their adversary. He should by all rights have followed up after his first attack missed, but he'd needed to make sure his students were safe first. Springing on to the roof of the enclosed wagon that Sukebiwa-san slept in, he scanned the area. The noise they'd made had apparently awoken the rest of the men in the convoy and the space between the wagons was rapidly filling with confused, shouting men, making it hard for Kakashi to pick out the figure of the ninja who'd attacked them. "Everybody get down!" he shouted. Startled, most of the men dropped to the ground, dragging down the bewildered few who hesitated. Kakashi dropped back down to the ground as the door in the back of the wagon slammed open and his client hurried out to stand beside him, brandishing a dagger in one meaty fist.

"Kakashi-san, what is going on?" the large man demanded. "Are we under attack?"

Without glancing at Sukebiwa-san, the jounin narrowed his eye, attempting to penetrate the darkness. Over where he'd left his students, Sakura had just dragged Naruto to the edge of the pit and was carefully making her way back across to get Keiji. Nothing else moved, the other members of the convoy lying on the ground with their hands over their heads. "I think so," he answered. "We only saw a single ninja, but he vanished after I attacked him. Fortunately I was on my guard and he fell for my decoy."

A flicker of movement caught Kakashi's attention- and then one of the carts exploded in flames. Panicked yells rose from the men as scarlet light lit the night and fragments of smouldering wood rained down over a wide area. Sakura screamed as the blast broke her concentration, causing her to lose her footing and sink into the bog again. Kakashi cursed as he recognised the detonation of an explosive seal, but he hadn't been so distracted that he'd lost sight of the target. Yelling at Sukebiwa-san to stay where he was, the copy ninja sprang after the enemy.

His leap carried him clear over the burning remains of the cart, the fire searing neon afterimages into his uncovered eye, to land on the grass outside the ring of wagons. Even with the light blindness, he could make out the man-sized figure sprinting off into the darkness in the direction of the treeline and his eye narrowed. Such an obvious decoy. There was no way they wanted him, the attackers were trying to lure him away from the convoy. Turning back he strode past the marsh pit, where Naruto had thrown the other two a rope he'd retrieved from one of their packs and was dragging them out, to stand a few feet in front of Sukebiwa-san again. "They're trying to lure me away," he explained shortly in response to the larger man's unspoken question. "But I'm sure the attacker is still here. If he's an Iwa missing-nin, as I suspect, then he'll most likely attack from…"

The jounin sprang to the side and lashed out with a kunai as a hulking figure burst from the ground from right beneath where he'd been standing. The enemy ninja parried deftly and struck back with the short sickle gripped in his left hand, flicking the weighted chain in his right towards Kakashi's ankles. Kakashi barely managed to step back in time to avoid being snared as the enemy reeled the chain in again and readied his kusari-gama for the next attack. Behind him, Naruto released the rope with a yell and formed a quick seal.

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" the fiery young genin shouted and six clones burst into existence around him, one grabbing up the rope again and giving it one more heave. Sakura and Keiji crawled onto solid ground, looking like a pair of mud dolls. The pack of Narutos threw themselves at the mysterious enemy with a furious yell as their sensei searched for an opening in his guard.

The chain snaked backwards through the air behind the attacker, the weight striking one of the Narutos full in the face, dissipating the clone in a puff of smoke. A swift snapping motion sent it whipping sideways, destroying another clone and forcing the remaining five Narutos to break off their attack and leap away to safety. Kakashi sprang at the man with a kunai in either hand, but the ninja dodged sideways, deflecting the attacks with his weapon. With a jolt, the master ninja realised the enemy was heading for Sukebiwa-san, who was backed up against the edge of his caravan holding his dagger defensively in front of him, and desperately threw himself after the enemy.

Sakura gasped as the sickle blade scored a shallow cut along her sensei's side. Kakashi-sensei staggered a little, but sucessfully managed to interpose himself between the assassin and his target and the girl looked around her trying to assess the situation. Keiji was on his hands and knees, coughing up mud, one hand gripping his collapsed but still bulky deathwind shuriken. Unlike their packs, which they'd left sitting against the side of one of the carts, he'd kept it beside his bedroll when he'd gone to sleep and he'd refused to release it when the bog had grasped them, making him that much harder to drag from the pit. Naruto and his remaining shadow clones were brandishing shuriken of their own and had spread out to try and hit the attacker from multiple angles, but were hesitating, the target's proximity to Kakashi-sensei making it difficult to get a safe shot in. There was no sign of any other attackers and no sound beyond the crackling of the burning cart and the ringing sound of weapons clashing.

There was something wrong here. Something was definitely off about this. Sakura couldn't say how she knew, but she could just tell. She redoubled her efforts to identify the source of her foreboding as the enemy ninja drove Kakashi-sensei back. He wasn't as fast as the Konoha jounin, but the attacks were aimed towards the unmoving Sukebiwa-san, who seemed to be paralyzed by fright, and Kakashi-sensei was forced to deflect each one rather than dodging, leaving him unable to counter. One of the Narutos leaped at the enemy with a yell, hoping to distract him, but a kick met him in midair, dispersing yet another clone. The brief distraction at least gave their teacher the breathing room to step back and launch a proper counterattack, forcing the interloper back. The eyes of every man in the convoy were locked on Hatake Kakashi as he desperately fought to keep the sickle-wielder away from their leader.

With a jolt, Sakura realised what was wrong. The eyes weren't focussed on the attacker- they were focussed on _Kakashi-sensei._ A lead weight dropped into her stomach as she put the discrepencies together- why there was only one attacker, why he had ignored everyone other than Kakashi-sensei and Sukebiwa-san, why only one of the carts had been destroyed. As the weighted chain lashed out towards the heavily robed man and she watched her superior step backwards to deflect it again, the young kunoichi screamed "KAKASHI-SENSEI! IT'S A TRAP!"

But it was too late. The looming form of the attacker feinted sideways then hurled itself recklessly towards Sukebiwa-san, kusari-gama raised to strike him down. Kakashi leaped backwards, hurling himself in front of the client. Even as he processed Sakura's scream he caught the sickle blade on one kunai, driving the other into his enemy's heart. The attacker burst apart into a mass of damp soil which pounded Kakashi like hail and sent him stumbling back into Sukebiwa-san, temporarily blinding him- an earth clone! As he staggered backwards, he felt a burst of agony as the unmistakeable feeling of steel pierced his flesh just below his kidneys.

Shocked, he turned his head to look behind him. Sukebiwa Taryo was right there, the dagger he'd been holding in his hand buried in his protector's back. For an instant the copy ninja wondered if he'd been so clumsy as to impale himself by accident, but then he looked at the man's shrouded face. The black eyes glittered with amusement as they met Kakashi's single widening eye. "Oh, I'm sorry, Kakashi-kun," he rasped and the jounin could _feel_ the mocking satisfaction in the man's voice. "Are you alright?"

A vicious blow to the back of the head threw him forwards, the blade jerking from his flesh. Sukebiwa dropped the dagger and threw off the cloak shrouding his body, a weighted chain lashing out, wrapping around Kakashi's knees and pitching him to the ground. He heard Sakura shriek, Keiji yell and Naruto roar with rage as the other men of the convoy sprang to their feet, pulling concealed weapons from their clothing. Three were immediately thrown back to the ground under the weight of muddy, orange-clad clones, while the remaining Naruto flung himself at the huge form of the treacherous Sukebiwa. The false merchant deflected the genin's attack with ease, his sickle parrying Naruto's kunai even more easily than it had his teacher's.

Pushing himself up onto his bound knees, Kakashi flung one of the kunai which he'd somehow manged to avoid dropping, burying it in the ribs of a ninja who had lunged towards Sakura. The girl rolled aside as the stricken man crashed to the ground, pulling out a kunai of her own and taking a defensive stance as several more men turned towards her and Keiji. With a shock, Kakashi realised that a chilling numbness was spreading through his body from the stab wound in his back. While the wound had missed any vital organs and would not be immediately life-threatening, the weapon had obviously been poisoned and, combined with the shock and blood loss, he had at best a minute left before he passed out.

With a sickening resignation, Hatake Kakashi realised he'd been beaten. This trap had been set up masterfully and he'd been played like a puppet, fighting with all his strength to defend the true enemy and leaving himself completely open. The only hope he had now was to get his precious students away safely. "Naruto! Sakura! Keiji!" he shouted hoarsely. "Get out of here, now! Run!" He tried to free himself from the chain binding his legs, hoping to at least buy them some time, but despite his one-sided duel with Naruto, Sukebiwa did not let the chain slacken even one inch. It was only the fact that half his weapon was already occupied that had allowed Naruto to last as long against the man's blade as he had, the genin's desperate fury no match for the older man's skill.

Sakura stared at her sensei as he gave the order for them to flee, helping Keiji upright and ducking a hastily flung shuriken as the enemy closed in around them. Keiji had slung his oversized weapon in its customary place on his back and was desperately peering around him, trying to place all the objects moving around him with his disorienting vision. "Run? But Kakashi-sensei, what about-?"

"GO!" their leader roared. "Get back to the village! Tell them Iwa is behind this!" He flung another kunai, this one with an explosive tag wrapped around the handle. The enemy ninja dodged it as it buried itself in the side of another wagon, but the detonation knocked the man senseless and blew almost everyone else off their feet. Unable to balance properly with his legs still bound, Kakashi was flung back to the ground again and as he struggled to rise one of the hostile ninja struck him a vicious blow to the temple with the butt of a kunai. The copy ninja's eye rolled backwards in his head and he knew no more.

Recovering more quickly than the enemy, Sakura grabbed Keiji by the hand and dragged him along with her, stopping only to grab their packs before she fled into the darkness. The older boy's unique eyesight was almost useless at night and Sakura knew he wouldn't have a chance on his own. Tears stung her eyes as they fled the campsite, leaving their sensei lying unmoving on the ground, surrounded by the enemy.

"Sakura-san!" Keiji yelled as he stumbled along behind her. "Where's Naruto-kun?"

With a shock, Sakura stumbled to a halt, realising that the blond boy hadn't followed their sensei's order. She looked back at the scene of the battle just as a cry of "TAJUU KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!" echoed through the night. The fire-lit scene was suddenly overwhelmed by a throng of at least a hundred Konoha genin as Naruto got serious- but a moment later they all erupted into smoke simultaneously. Sakura's breath caught in her throat. No wide-range ninjutsu had been used, so the only thing that could cause all those clones to disperse at once was if Naruto –the REAL Naruto- had been taken out.

Biting her lip furiously, Sakura hesitated. She could either escape as Kakashi-sensei had ordered her, or defy him and go back to try and rescue him and Naruto. If she did, she would be captured at best, killed at worst and Keiji would be forced to make his way back to Konoha alone- assuming he could even evade the inevitable pursuit, which was a vain hope indeed. That was assuming he would even be willing to let her go alone, even handicapped as he was. No enemies had appeared chasing them yet, but the girl knew they had mere seconds at best.

Turning away from the scene, she broke into a run, dragging her last teammate with her. The treeline was only a few hundred metres away, once they'd made cover they'd be able to hide until morning. "Sakura-san, what are we doing?" Keiji shouted as they ran. "Are we abandoning them?"

"No!" Sakura hissed furiously, shaking tears from her eyes as the trees approached. "We're going to rescue them!"

oooOOOooo

The blazing carts illuminated the scene as the man who had called himself Sukebiwa Taryo surveyed the results of his ambush. While far from a perfect result –two of Kakashi's brats had escaped and a couple of his men had been injured, possibly even killed- he had what he wanted. The blond-haired boy had startled him when he'd leaped onto the roof of the caravan and summoned a veritable horde of shadow clones, but he'd been able to free his kusari-gama from the unconscious Kakashi's legs and had sent the weighted end of the chain flying around under the caravan to come up behind the original brat and strike him in the back of the head while he'd been in the middle of delivering some kind of childish boast, knocking him senseless.

His subordinates were regrouping to head out in pursuit of the two remaining genin. The man considered for a moment before calling out "Forget the other two brats for now. We have what we need here. I'll dispatch hunter teams to find them once we get these two back to town." With a mix of disappointment and relief, his subordinates stood down and turned their attention to treating their wounded.

The old ninja smiled to himself as he stood over the motionless body of the famous Copy-Ninja. It was time for old debts to be repaid.

oooOOOooo

Hatake Kakashi drifted up through waves of pain until he broke the surface of consciousness. His head felt like it had been stuffed full of cotton wool and his body burned with cold fire.

Resisting the instinct to open his eye and start asking clichéd questions like "where am I?", he took stock of his situation as best he could. Even without sight, he could tell he was in some kind of prison cell; he was on his knees on a bare wooden floor with his body held upright by shackles holding his arms up and off to either side, presumably fixed to the ceiling. He could feel shorter chains attached to shackles around his ankles and thighs as well, so he couldn't even rise to his feet. He was apparently being chained in the middle of the room, rather than up against the wall, not quite hanging from the ceiling, but still in a prime position to give anyone full access to his entire body. He'd been stripped naked to the waist and although his body still ached, he could feel bandages over the wounds to his side and back, so clearly he was in no further danger of bleeding to death.

Most worryingly was his hands. Above the shackles binding his arms, he could feel both of them restricted by hard metal- some kind of heavy gauntlets, fastened tightly around his wrists. Surreptitiously trying to move them, he found he barely had room to wiggle his fingers and absolutely no possibility of bending them freely. Someone obviously wanted to ensure that a ninja held here had no chance whatsoever of forming seals of any kind, no matter how slim.

Focussing his hearing, he could hear breathing coming from a metre or two in front of him. There was a least one other person in the room with him, but whether his jailor or a fellow prisoner Kakashi couldn't tell. From the ragged sound of the breaths he was more inclined towards the latter. In the background he could faintly hear what sounded like the sounds of city life, coming from a long way away.

Finally and most fearsomely was the smell. The room stank with a mixture of horrific odours- sweat and fear, blood and death, vomit and despair and human waste. With a chill, Kakashi revised his initial assumption from "prison cell" to "interrogation room".

Or to use the blunter description, "torture chamber".

With nothing left to learn in this fashion, the jounin slowly opened his eye- noting as he did that his forehead protector was still in its usual position covering his Sharingan. Getting his gummy eyelid unstuck with a little effort, he blinked a few times to clear his vision before raising his head. As he'd expected, he was in a small stone-walled room with a tiny window high on the opposite wall with sunlight beaming through it. Any further observations were immediately derailed by the sight of the figure hanging in front of him.

Naruto. The young man was shackled the same way as Kakashi, stripped to the waist, his legs chained to the floor and his arms suspended from the ceiling, about four feet in front of Kakashi. His hands, presumably like Kakashi's own, were encased in thick, inflexible metal gauntlets which were locked tight at the wrist to prevent him simply slipping out of them. His head was hanging loosely and his breath rattled in his chest, but fortunately he at least didn't appear visibly injured.

Any further considerations were abandoned in favor of confirming his student's condition. "Naruto," Kakashi called out softly. To his relief, the boy immediately stirred, lifting his head to meet his teacher's gaze. Apparently he'd already been conscious, merely resting.

"Kakashi-sensei," the young genin muttered. "Sorry, I screwed up." He dropped his head again, clearly ashamed of whatever blunder had led to his capture.

"Never mind that," Kakashi insisted. "Are you alright? What about Sakura and Keiji? Did they escape?" The boy shook his head.

"Sorry Kakashi-sensei, I don't know. I think I saw them make a run for it, but I don't know what happened after they got me. I've been awake for about an hour myself, but I haven't seen anyone yet." Naruto looked back at his sensei and to Kakashi's astonishment a smile appeared on his face. "Heh, I never thought I'd get to see your real face under circumstances like this!"

Kakashi wondered what he meant for a second before he realised something he'd somehow overlooked before- his mask was missing. Despite the seriousness of the situation he couldn't help but feel somewhat miffed at his captors for violating his privacy in such a manner- he put a lot of effort into maintaining his 'cool and mysterious' image, much of which was tied to his students not knowing entirely what he looked like. He sighed. "Ah well. So, what do you think anyway?"

Naruto grinned cheekily. "Well, I'm no girl, but I bet most of 'em would say you're pretty handsome. I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up with a bigger fanclub than Sasuke had. No wonder you keep it covered."

"While I," a harsh voice cut in, "keep MY face covered for a somewhat different reason." Kakashi heard the sound of a door opening behind him and saw Naruto tense angrily. Footsteps crossed the wooden floor towards him and, just as he expected, the man who had posed as Sukebiwa Taryo strode into view. Rather than the overdressed merchant they'd travelled with for days, he was now wearing the garb of an Iwa ninja- the same clothes as their attacker the night before. Only his face remained concealed behind its cloth wrap. Now he'd abandoned his disguise his voice had lost its wheezy sound, although that strange nasal element was still there. He addressed Naruto but didn't take his black eyes off Kakashi. "Would you like to know what that reason is, boy?"

"I could care less," the genin insolently retorted. "My guess is you're so ugly you need to keep covered up to keep from scaring animals and small children."

Kakashi silently wished Naruto would keep his mouth shut and not unnecessarily provoke the man, but the large ninja unexpectedly gave a bark of hoarse laughter. "A good guess, boy," he rasped, finally turning his back to Kakashi to face the youth. "Here, take a look for yourself!"

Naruto couldn't help but recoil in horror as the man reached up and pulled the mask from his face. The visage before him was hideously deformed, huge twisting knots of scar tissue running in two separate channels from the left side of the man's mouth up to just under the eye and ear, giving one side of his face a rictus grin. His nose was mutilated, the nostrils ripped away by whatever hideous injury had done this to him leaving only more scar tissue; Naruto realised that this was the cause of his raspy, nasal voice. The right side of his face was a mass of burn scars covering that entire side of the head; the ear was gone completely leaving only a featureless hole leading into his skull. Naruto had never seen anything so horrific in his entire life.

The right side of the mouth raised to match the left and Naruto realised the man was grinning at him. "Aren't I a pretty one? Want to know how I came to look like this? Maybe you should ask your sensei." Kakashi jerked his head up, his mind racing. The false joviality disappeared from their captor's voice as he addressed the jounin. "It's not smart to leave unfinished business, Kakashi," he snarled viciously. "No, it's not a good idea at all!"

"Wh-" The senior ninja coughed. "Who are you? Really?"

Their enigmatic tormentor circled around to stand behind his prisoner, keeping his back to Kakashi to prevent him from seeing his face. "Oh really, Kakashi," he hissed. "I was expecting better from you, at least by this stage. Oh I was careful, believe me. I did all the research on you I could over the last fourteen years. I planned so, _so_ carefully for this trap of mine, taking into account almost every last detail." He spun around suddenly and clamped his hands on either side of Kakashi's head from behind, fingers digging in painfully hard. "But even so, I just couldn't resist leaving you a few clues, just a few, just to see if you'd catch on, just to see if you still remembered the man you mutilated and left without finishing off, left in disgrace! The name, for one. 'Sukebiwa Taryo'! Did you _really_ not suspect anything? I made sure you knew my name when we fought, are you _really_ going to say you'd forgotten me? ARE YOU?!"

The last words rose to an almost hysterical scream that made Naruto flinch. Kakashi gritted his teeth as the pressure on his head increased to agonising levels, desperately casting his mind back through the years to the end of the last great ninja war between Konoha and Iwa, when he'd still served under his own sensei, the Fourth Hokage. To the final battle of that last conflict and the Iwa ninja he'd duelled in the middle of a burning forest.

_Sukebiwa Taryo._

"Wabisuke… Ryota…" he gasped out.

Instantly the pressure vanished and the large man sprang in front of him, bending down to thrust his gruesome visage right in Kakashi's handsome face. "That's RIGHT!" he shouted. "So glad you remember me, Hatake Kakashi!"

Calming himself with a visible effort, the mutilated ninja straightened up and moved away to seat himself on a chair next to the wall before continuing. "You remember, don't you, Kakashi?" he asked, as if he were just reminiscing with an old friend. "Your shuriken struck me right here-" his hand traced the scar running up to his ear, "-and here," then the line under his eye. "I wiped the blood from my eyes and fought on, but as I caught up with you and we fought hand-to-hand a lucky strike from your kunai ripped off my nose." The conversational tone in his voice was chilling. "I fell to the ground just as you detonated the explosive tags you'd placed there earlier. Fortunately the blast only caught the right side of my head, but I was still lucky not to lose an eye along with my ear."

Wabisuke slumped forward in his chair, letting his mangled face fall into his hands. His raspy voice suddenly sounded very tired. "And as I lay there in agony, I waited for you to come down and finish me off. Maybe I'd been planning to detonate my entire remaining stock of explosive tags in the hope of taking you with me, maybe I just wanted the pain to end, to die like a warrior; I don't remember any more." His voice hardened again. "But you didn't. I looked up, but all I could see was the forest burning around me. You'd run away, leaving me to either burn along with it, or bleed to death."

"No!" Kakashi protested, "That's not true! Iwould _never_ have left an enemy to suffer like that, but the order came through to fall back immediately and without question because of the cease-"

"Fortunately for me" the Iwa nin continued, ignoring his prisoner, "I was found by a team of our medic-nin, who stabilised me, even if they couldn't undo the damage you'd done to my face. I woke up in our field hospital, desiring nothing more than to get back out there and kill the one who'd done this to me, but I was told that a cease-fire had been signed and the war was on hold. And then the peace deal was cemented, I was denied my vengeance and had to go back to Iwa and a regular life with a face like a nightmare and the knowledge that the _brat_ who'd carved me up was still out there!"

His raspy voice lowered to a menacing growl. "So… I waited. I plotted and planned, learned everything about you that I could. And when I heard that you'd taken on a genin team, I knew my chance had come. Once you were leading a team of brats I knew I'd have a chance to lure you from the village on a low-ranking mission that would otherwise be beneath the attention of a jounin, without anyone other than your kids backing you up." He cast a quick glance at Naruto. "Mind you, I have to say the kid surprised me a bit with those shadow clones of his. If he'd learned to control his mouth and follow orders he might have had the makings of a pretty good ninja." The boy blushed angrily as he recalled how he'd been taken out, even as Wabisuke's use of the past tense chilled him. "But nevertheless…"

"…here we are." finished Kakashi for him wearily. He felt a hollow sensation in his gut as he remembered one of the lessons that had been drilled into him during his time in ANBU- _Nothing is more dangerous than a defeated but still-living enemy._

"Indeed," agreed the older man. "So now we can conclude our unfinished business."

"Oh?" Kakashi raised a questioning eyebrow as he met the eyes of his old foe and he dared to allow a note of sarcasm into his voice. "So are you going to kill me now? Or are you possibly going to release me so we can fight man-to-man like we did all those years ago, without the distraction of tricks, teammates and an ongoing war?" His eye narrowed again. "Or are you just going to carve me up until I look like you?"

Wabisuke's mutilated face managed to actually look affronted. "Oh dear me no, nothing so pointless, impractical and self-indulgent! Do you know what I've been doing since the end of the last war?" He smiled that twisted half-grin again. "I've become a senior interrogator in the Iwagakure ANBU. So I'm going to take my time in extracting everything from you that I can about your village of Konoha –and I'm sure you know quite a lot that would be of use- so that when it comes time to finish the war, we will have the edge."

Kakashi's brow furrowed in confusion. "War? What war? There hasn't been a war between Iwa and Konoha since… well, since we last fought!"

The sickening grin widened and the Iwa jounin spread his arms wide. "Why, the war that will ignite after the two of you are executed for betraying your contract and attacking and destroying an innocent trade caravan. Of course, the Tsuchikage will be shocked when I provide him with the scroll I recovered from you with secret orders from the Hokage about your role in the plan to undermine the economic strength of the Earth Country by disrupting trade routes and blaming it on bandit attacks, but I'm sure he'll come around once public opinion is stirred up enough and the Daimyo is pressuring him to protect civilian interests from enemy marauders. And then I'll finally be able to finish what was left undone all those years ago- although of course you'll be long dead by then." He paused, drinking in the horrified looks the two Konoha ninja gave him. "I told you, I hate to leave unfinished business."

"You bastard!" Naruto yelled furiously. "The Hokage would never order something like that and everyone knows it! No-one will ever believe your stupid accusations!"

"Oh I'm sure the people of Konoha won't," Wabisuke answered placidly. "But I'm afraid, boy, that they're not the people who matter in this case."

"You're insane," Kakashi whispered, cold talons of fear sinking into his heart. He'd seen far too much of the ninja world to dismiss the Iwa-nin's plan as casually as his student had. Every ninja village had its own faction of warmongering hawks and even if Wabisuke wasn't actually part of one of them, they'd still almost certainly support him. But plausible or not, that didn't change the implications of the man's plan. "You're genuinely insane. You'd start a war involving thousands of people that would upset the power balance of the entire world just over an injury you received fourteen years ago?!"

The madman shrugged. "And why not? Wars have been fought over less." He rose from his chair and rubbed his hands together. "Anyway, I think it's time for us to begin. I have a lot I hope to learn from you and only a few days to do it in. I'll have to execute you before anyone else from Iwagakure comes to want to talk to you- the last thing I need is anyone else getting the wrong idea about what happened here." He strolled over to stand behind Kakashi and the jounin could _feel_ the dark eyes studying his bare, muscled back, traced with patterns of old scars. "Now, you may or may not know this, but recent trends in interrogation have tended towards using genjutsu and mind-invading techniques to extract information from prisoners by simply pulling it from their minds. I, on the other hand, am more of a traditionalist. There's a certain art to using the combination of physical pain and psychological manipulation to break a prisoner until they're willing to tell you whatever you want to know. And in any event, I assume you, Kakashi, are well-trained in resisting or deceiving interrogative genjutsu from your time in ANBU, so I believe my methods are called for here even more than usual. The only concession I make to modern techniques is having a specialist in here to do the questioning to detect when you're trying to lie your way out of it.

"I've refined my techniques over the years, so I don't need any of that messy business with the hot irons and the racks and blood and all that gruesome nonsense." Wabisuke's raspy voice had taken on the tone of an academy lecturer as he paced back and forth behind Kakashi. "In fact, my technique is so efficient that, if I'm careful, it doesn't even leave visible marks and while it _will_ eventually cause permanent crippling injury, I can make a single subject last for _days_ before they're damaged enough that further interrogation would be fruitless." The torturer stopped pacing and stood behind his victim, studying the exposed flesh with a clinical eye. "Here, let me give you a small sample." He formed a short series of seals then extended a hand towards Kakashi's back and muttered "Ninpo: Inner Suicide jutsu."

Kakashi braced himself, but as soon as Wabisuke's fingers lightly touched his right shoulder blade he was struck by an agony the likes of which he'd never felt before. This was worse than being stabbed, a hundred times worse- the pain wasn't in his flesh, the pain WAS his flesh. His entire body went rigid as he felt the muscles in his back spasm and jerk, as if his right arm was about to rip itself away from his body in a desperate attempt to escape. He gritted his teeth, desperately trying not to scream as he heard Naruto howling curses and threats at his tormentor.

"Damn you, you cowardly bastard!" Naruto roared, lunging forward as much as his shackles would let him. "Leave Kakashi-sensei alone! How dare you! I'll rip you apart for this! Why don't you try that on me, huh? Coward!"

In an instant the torment stopped, leaving only a throbbing ache. Kakashi slumped, hanging from his chains, breathing heavily as sweat dripped from his brow. Wabisuke turned from his subject to look at Naruto almost… approvingly? "Don't worry, boy, your turn will come" the torturer chided. He turned back to Kakashi. "As I said, that was just a sample so you can know what I can do. Let me explain it in a bit of detail; you may find this interesting. It's actually something I adapted from healing ninjutsu. I work my chakra into your muscles and override your nervous control over them, setting alternating groups of the muscle fibres to simultaneously expand and contract at the same time, pulling in different directions at the same time. As a result it feels like your body is tearing itself apart. The real beauty of the technique is that, where actual damage like blades or heat would eventually damage the nerves and deaden the sensations, my technique actually _amplifies_ the pain while simultaneously sheltering the nerves themselves from damage. Of course, after about ten minutes of constant use the technique will tear the muscles apart, permanently crippling you, but" the man shrugged dismissively, "nothing's perfect. I try to minimise the effect by rotating around a few different parts of the body, but it ideally does take a few minutes for the pain to peak."

Kakashi's mind raced. He had, as Wabisuke had surmised, been conditioned to resist interrogation techniques during his time in ANBU. His training had also included reinforcing his tolerance to pain, to enable him to hold out longer in situations exactly like this. He'd been tortured before but, much as he hated to admit it, Wabisuke's technique was something else. He wasn't sure if he could withstand agony of this magnitude long enough for his body to be debilitated to the extent that his tormentor would be forced to give up. He only knew he had to try.

"Well now!" Their captor turned away from him, cracking his knuckles theatrically. "It's time for us to get started." A chill ran through Kakashi. Wabisuke had turned his attention from him- now he was appraising Naruto. Despite his bravado, the boy was now visibly nervous, shrinking away from Wabisuke as much as his restraints would allow.

"Wait. What do you think you're doing?" The mutilated ninja gave him a surprised glance that Kakashi was coming to realise was all part of some sick act.

The twisted smile again. "Didn't you guess why the boy was even in here, Kakashi? I keep telling you, I've done my research on you. While torturing you would be gratifying, I know how to _really_ hurt you." A large hand was laid, surprisingly gently, on top of the blond hair. "Hurt your comrades. The boy will do for starters, but I'm sure my pickets will have caught the other two by the time he's used up. They'll never make it back to Konoha." Wabisuke grinned hideously. "When the boy is screaming for mercy and begging you to save him, you'll _plead_ for me to let you tell me all you know."

Icy claws of panic gripped the copy ninja's heart. This was something he did not think he could withstand. Even the knowledge that Sakura and Keiji were still at large was no relief from the thought of what was in store for Naruto.

To the surprise of both jounin, the young blond shook Wabisuke's hand off his head with a defiant laugh. Blue eyes glared up at the mutilated visage unflinchingly. "Hah! Is that what you think, jerky-face? We'll see about that! You'll never find Sakura-chan and Keiji, so you'd better do your worst! I can take it!" He turned his gaze back to his wide-eyed sensei. Kakashi could see his student's body was trembling, but Naruto allowed no fear to show on his face. "Kakashi-sensei, you'd better not tell this ugly bastard one single thing that would endanger Konoha! No matter what, if you give in because of me, I'll never forgive you!"

Kakashi met the young ninja's blue eyes without blinking. Even though he was well acquainted with Naruto's reckless courage, this show of defiance was more than he'd ever believed the boy to be capable of. Almost without realising it, he gave a single slow nod of acknowledgement.

Wabisuke had been quite taken aback by the boy's outburst. Narrowing his black eyes he stroked his chin contemplatively. "Hmm, bold words, boy. It'll be interesting to see how well you live up to them." He repeated the seals from earlier, held up his hand and began focussing his chakra. "It's almost a pity. I really do think you might have made a fine ninja." His voiced dropped to a menacing whisper. _"Ninpo: Inner Suicide jutsu."_

As the man extended his glowing hand towards Naruto's body, Kakashi made one last effort to buy even a little more time before it began. "Hold on! You haven't got your specialist in here to ensure I don't lie during the interrogation! How are you going to proceed without him?"

"Oh, we're not starting the interrogation yet," the torturer replied, his deformed grin twisting as the mask of reason slipped again, revealing the insanity underneath. "I'm just taking some time to get warmed up!"

Thirty seconds in, a groan slipped between Naruto's clenched teeth.

After a minute, a stifled gasp escaped his mouth.

It wasn't until nearly two minutes had passed that the screaming started.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

This was not originally meant to be a cliffhanger ending. I'd actually written quite a bit more than than before I realised that the story arc wasn't even nearly about to wrap up and this chapter was already running long. So I went back and found a dramatic point to cut it in half and pushed the rest forward into the next chapter. Sorry if the tension is killing you.

Here, in the middle of the new Team 7's first "serious" mission together (the "retrieve Hinata" mission, while _important_, wasn't exactly life-threatening) I'm hoping to solidify my characterisations of the team. Kakashi, while powerful, is not infalliable and the most important thing to him is the lives of his teammates. Naruto, while also strong, is still a reckless idiot, prone to acting before thinking and to grandstanding far more than is good for him, while also being defiant in the face of opposition. I tried to show more of Sakura's general competence and good sense in this chapter, although most of both her and Keiji's material has been pushed forward to the next one by the chapter break.

Chapter 5 could take a bit longer than I hoped, this is going to be VERY long and action-packed. I'll try to get it out within the next month or so if I can.

Do you think the story is getting a bit intense? Considering I started off by killing Sasuke, believe me when I say you ain't seen _nothin'_ yet!

NEXT TIME:

Naruto's struggle to survive brings him face-to-face with the beast within, while Sakura and Keiji desperately seek a way to save their teammates. Look forward to **Naruto: The Secret Songs of the Ninja chapter 5- The Song of Defiance.**

- Arcane Azmadi


	5. Chapter 5

NARUTO: THE SECRET SONGS OF THE NINJA.

**Disclaimer:** I am not now, nor have ever been, a member of the Communist Party of Australia.

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Chapter 5- The Song of Defiance.

Sakura gritted her teeth so tightly that she could hear them grinding against each other. She clenched her fist so hard that her nails were drawing blood from her palm. She fought back the tears and resisted the urge to curl into a ball and cover her ears to shut out the horrible sound.

Naruto had been screaming for over an hour, never stopping for more than a minute at a time. His agonised voice drifted out from somewhere underneath the fortified tower in the centre of the town, audible even to the two genin in their hiding place in a storehouse near the outer wall. While Sakura peered out the small window, scanning the area for any sign of danger, Keiji sat with his back to the wall, his arms wrapped around his knees, staring into space with a grim expression on his face.

The two of them had escaped the trap the previous evening by hiding in the woods. Without a specialised tracking-nin, not even shinobi could find two trained genin hiding out somewhere in miles of heavy undergrowth in the middle of a pitch-black night. After several tense hours crouching together in a small ditch covered by a fallen tree, camoflagued by a muddy blanket layered with leaf matter, the two genin had emerged at sunrise to make their move. Returning cautiously to the site of the fight they found nothing but the blackened remains of the convoy, all five wagons burned down to their axles, with no sign of either their enemies or their two teammates. Despite Kakashi-sensei's order, both Sakura and Keiji had realised the enemy would be expecting them to make a break for Konoha and would be out looking for them.

Additionally, both of them agreed that they would rather die than abandon their comrades.

So instead of running, they decided to head further into Earth Country in the hopes of finding some trace of Naruto and Kakashi-sensei. The pair had arrived at Hosokusa before midday. It was a medium-sized town, half trading centre, half military outpost, surrounded by a small stone wall with a squat, three-storey tower in the middle to garrison the Iwa ninja detachment who watched over the area. Ninja town garrisons were, as far as Sakura was aware, unique to the Earth country and Iwagakure, Konoha preferring to keep all its ninja stationed in the village itself until they were dispatched on a mission. It had taken them over an hour of careful observation before Sakura had found a spot where she was sure the two of them could sneak over the wall without being detected- with Keiji's peerless distance vision the two of them had been able to spot every sentry positioned around the town, letting them find a blind spot. Even so, Sakura's heart had been in her mouth as she'd led Keiji by the hand in a desperate dash from their concealed position in the shrubbery across the open ground leading up to the wall, expecting at any moment to hear a hostile challenge. But the two of them had reached the base of the two-metre wall and scrambled over without a hitch, going to ground in the first secure-looking building they could find, which had turned out to be a storehouse filled with large wooden crates.

Sakura had just finished checking out the storehouse, noting all the entrances and locating every possible hiding place they could use, when the screaming had started- not oppressively loud, but impossible to ignore once you'd heard it. At first it had merely unnerved her, hearing some stranger in obvious torment. It was only when she looked across at Keiji and saw how white his face had gone that the horrific realisation began to dawn on her. "That's… Naruto-kun isn't it, Sakura-san?" the boy had asked, his voice trembling, almost as if he was pleading with her to tell him he was wrong. But she couldn't. At first she hadn't recognised the voice, could never have even _imagined_ a sound like that coming from the mouth of Uzumaki Naruto, but as she listened to the sounds of agony it became impossible for her to deny. Naruto was being tortured.

It took all of Sakura's self-control to stop herself from charging out of their hiding place and racing through the town until she reached the source of the screaming, rescuing her friend and killing whoever was submitting him to such unimaginable torment. But she clenched her fist, tried to block out the horrible sound and concentrated on trying to think of a way to rescue Naruto and Kakashi-sensei too if they were being held together. She turned away from the window and hopped down off the box she was standing on, walking over to where her other teammate was sitting.

"I've been watching for a while now and I haven't seen any ninja patrolling," she told Keiji, trying to ignore the noise. Fortunately whoever was tormenting Naruto chose that moment to take a break and the screaming faded away, giving them some blessed silence to converse in. "They don't seem to be alert to the possibility that we're here in town. I'm going to have to go out and try to get more information about this place- _someone_ has to know something about Naruto here."

Keiji shifted uncomfortably. "Sakura-san, are you sure that's a good idea?" he questioned her. "Even if you disguise yourself, you can't just go around asking questions about new prisoners without arousing suspicion." He stood up and started pacing restlessly. "Maybe we should wait until it's dark so we can check the town out surreptitiously?"

The pink-haired kunoichi stopped him in his pacing with a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry Keiji-kun, I've got a plan." Her grip tightened, betraying her nervousness, but her voice remained steady. "It WILL be dangerous, but we don't have any choice. It's do or die for us- and for our friends."

As if to punctuate her point, the screaming from the prison started again as she finished speaking. Keiji looked into Sakura's resolute eyes and nodded. "OK Sakura-san. But you _be careful,_ alright?"

She gave him a smile that expressed more confidence than she actually felt and patted his arm reassuringly. "Don't worry Keiji-kun. I'll take the utmost care."

oooOOOooo

Kakashi slowly breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, focussing intently on the flow of air into and out of his lungs. It was a meditative exercise his teacher had taught him once to help keep himself calm in the middle of stressful situations, which was something the jounin was particularly grateful for now.

Wabisuke had tortured Naruto for almost an hour before he'd even brought his assistant, Koga, in to start the questioning. Koga, a skinny, lank-haired shinobi with a perpetually sour expression, had spent the entire time with his long, thin fingers pressed to the side of Kakashi's temples while he had rasped question after question into his ear, his flat, droning voice somehow audible over the sound of Naruto's agonised cries. _"Who is the current commander of Konoha's ANBU? How many divisions are there and how many members in total? How many ninja are there in the Hokage's personal guard? What manner of defences are normally arrayed around Konoha? How long would it take for Konoha to fully bring itself onto a war footing if attacked?"_ The voice had droned on and on repetatively, completely without emotion or inflection, until it had begun to blend with the screaming, making it sound as if Naruto was begging Kakashi to answer in a voice filled with agony.

Kakashi's ANBU training had included a section on how to resist emotional torture via the torture of comrades. The main emphasis had been on killing your emotions and turning a blind eye to your ally's suffering- to close your mind to reality and not see the things that might drive you to breaking.

Kakashi had never admitted this to his instructors, but he'd refused to accept this method. A ninja who abandoned his comrades was worse than trash. So instead, he resolved himself to watch without flinching as their captor tormented Naruto's body, twisting and warping his muscles to inflict indescribable pain. He burned into his memory every detail of his student's suffering, refusing to flinch away from the boy's sacrifice, replaying inside his head over and over again the words Naruto had said: _Kakashi-sensei, you'd better not tell this ugly bastard one single thing that would endanger Konoha! No matter what, if you give in because of me, I'll never forgive you!_

So Kakashi had honoured Naruto's heroism by watching him scream and writhe in unspeakable torment, not looking away nor speaking a word that would betray their village, until their tormentors had been forced to –at least for the moment- concede defeat. So the Iwa nin had eventually decided to break for lunch, leaving their two captives alone in their cell, hanging from their chains.

Naruto's head had slumped onto his chest. His breath rasped painfully in his tortured throat, ravaged by his constant screaming. For all that Wabisuke's torture left no visible external injuries, he looked like hell. Kakashi was pretty sure he was conscious, though.

"Naruto," he called out softly and the boy stirred, raising his head to meet his teacher's eyes. Kakashi felt another surge of guilt at the sight of the residual pain on Naruto's face, but then –to the jounin's utter astonishment- he _smiled._

"Hey Kakashi-sensei," the young man quipped. "Just resting my eyes for a bit." His rasping voice sounded more like the Third Hokage after four pipes of tobacco in a row than the energetic 13-year old Kakashi knew, but there was no despair or fear to be heard there. "How you coping?"

Kakashi couldn't help but grin. Naruto truly was irrepressible. "I should be asking you that, Naruto. Are you alright?"

The boy coughed then arched his back and stretched his arms as best he could within the constraints of his chains, trying to shake off the worst of the numbness that was starting to afflict them both. "Oh, I'm doing OK, Kakashi-sensei. I don't know what hurts more though, my back or my throat." He looked thoughtful for a second as if pondering something. "No, definitely my back, now that I think about it. I could definitely do with another drink and a bite to eat." At least Wabisuke and his assistant had given the two of them occasional sips of lukewarm water from a kettle sitting on the bench nearby –so Kakashi could more easily talk if he cracked and so Naruto could more easily scream if he didn't- but they hadn't eaten since dinner the night before.

Kakashi grimaced as his own stomach growled at him. "They'll probably give us something at the end of the day, although don't expect ramen. Don't give up, Naruto. We're going to get out of this somehow. Just wait for the right opportunity.

Naruto gave him a look that was somewhat insulted. "There's no WAY I'd ever give up, Kakashi-sensei. Just don't you give up either. No matter what, even if they…" he hesitated, "…even if they break me and I ask you to save me or tell you I've changed my mind, I'm telling you now, don't listen to me, I won't really mean it. And I'll be ready when you give the word."

It was a sober admission. Kakashi knew that, even stubborn as he was, admitting the possibility that he might break showed that Naruto acknowledged that even he had limits. It was almost uncomfortably uncharacteristic for the loudmouthed boy who always declared he could do anything, but under these circumstances Kakashi was more reassured by this maturity. "I swear, Naruto, I won't tell them anything that would put Konoha at risk, no matter what they do to either of us."

Naruto's smile returned, albeit somewhat tired-looking. "That's good, Kakashi-sensei… that's good…" His head began to sink onto his chest again. "I'm just gonna take a bit more of a nap now…"

oooOOOooo

The sound of foosteps in the corridor outside their cell immediately brought both man and boy back to full alertness. Naruto gritted his teeth and Kakashi took a deep breath as they heard the bolt being drawn back and the door swung open.

Kakashi had been shackled with his back to the door so he couldn't see whoever it was that entered the room without twisting himself around as best he could within his chains. As he was resolved to ignoring his captors as much as possible this was not so much a problem, so he did not so much as twitch as Wabisuke's hateful, nasal voice boomed out behind him. "Kakashi! I have a little surprise for you."

Kakashi had been determined not to react to anything his tormentor did to them, but then he saw the look on Naruto's face. The boy had done his best to bear Wabisuke's torments with a stoicism that had astounded the jounin, but for the first time since Kakashi had woken up in this cell his expression was one of pure horror. Kakashi couldn't help it. As the sound of stumbling footsteps approached, he twisted his head around to look and the bottom dropped out of his stomach.

Sakura. Her face was bloodied and bruised, her dress was torn and stained with blood, her hands were shackled behind her back and tears trickled down her abused cheeks. Wabisuke shoved her forward and she stumbled and fell to the floorboards beside him, a whimper of pain escaping her lips.

The sadistic Iwa-nin chuckled. "My men brought her in just a few minutes ago. They didn't capture the other boy, though- apparently he did something stupid so they killed him on the spot. How sad." He reached down and grabbed Sakura's hair, dragging her painfully to her feet again and causing her to shriek. "Still, the girl should serve well enough. Maybe you are too callous and the brat too thick-headed for me to get anything from you by torturing him- but maybe you won't be so reluctant to talk if it's the pretty girl who's doing the screaming, hmm?"

Kakashi started to feel a throbbing pain in his temples. This was too much to bear. It was hard enough withstanding Naruto's torture even at the boy's own insistance, he honestly didn't know if he could take this as well. Across from him, Naruto looked as if he was going to throw up. Tears streamed down Sakura's bruised face as she looked at her teacher imploringly. "Help me, Kakashi-sensei," she begged him, her voice choked with fear. "Keiji's dead and… I'm scared! Don't let them hurt us, please! Just… just give him what he wants."

Could he really do this? Could he stand by and watch as both of his students were subjected to immeasurable pain just because he refused to talk? A ninja's highest loyalty must be to the village. A ninja who abandoned his comrades was worse than trash. Kakashi's mind reeled with indecision, torn between his duty to the village and his duty to his surviving subordinates.

_Ptui._

Kakashi blinked in surprise. Naruto had just spat onto the floor in Sakura and Wabisuke's direction and was glaring at them with a combination of naked contempt, anger and hate. "Hah! Nice try, fry-face. You nearly had me going there for a second."

Wabisuke, Sakura and Kakashi's faces all wore matching looks of confusion. The Iwa-nin frowned. "What are you babbling about, brat?"

The blond snorted. "Spare us the act. That's not Sakura-chan." At this blunt statement, hope stirred in Kakashi. He'd been so shocked by the apparent sight of Sakura being dragged in and the news of Keiji's supposed death that he hadn't even thought to question what he was seeing. Had the stress of the situation caused his ingrained paranoia to simply fail him? Could it really be that easy?

"Wh-what?" Sakura gasped in bewilderment, "What are you talking about, Naruto? Are you stupid? Of course, I'm-"

"You almost had me fooled." Naruto's voice cut through the girl's protests as if no-one was talking at all. "But you shouldn't take Konoha genin so lightly, you ugly thug! If you knew any better you'd know that Sakura-chan would _never_ plead like that at the expense of the village." He sneered defiantly at their captor. "You don't have a clue where Sakura-chan is, or Keiji either."

Rather than anger, the look Wabisuke gave him in return was merely amused. "You think this is just a trick, boy?" He grabbed Sakura roughly by one of her restrained arms. "Well then, I suppose you wouldn't be too bothered by me doing _this."_

There was a short, violent movement and a sickening gristly sound. This time the girl screamed in unrestrained agony as the torturer wrenched her left arm until the joint popped out of its socket. Both Naruto and Kakashi flinched as Sakura's voice trailed off into tortured sobs, but Naruto's kept his expression bluntly defiant as he continued to glare daggers at Wabisuke. "Seriously, enough with the games," he spat. "You're not fooling us anyway, so come on, let's get back on with the torture already! Bring it on!"

Kakashi wasn't so sure. If the girl wasn't Sakura, then who or what was she? Clones couldn't usually take the kind of abuse that Wabisuke had already inflicted on the girl now sobbing in front of him with one arm twisted at an obscene angle. And if this wasn't a transformed clone, then was it a real person in disguise? Could Wabisuke have forced some poor innocent to play along with this sick roleplay? Even worse, could this really be Sakura and had Naruto simply overestimated her? Kakashi wanted to believe in his students, but for all Naruto's confidence, it was impossible to know how an untested genin would react to a stressful new situation until it was upon them- and situations didn't come much more stressful than this. And much as he hated to admit it, it was a distinct possibility that Sakura and Keiji WOULD be caught before they reached Konoha to warn the Hokage.

So many possibilities. Naruto's conviction was ironclad, but Kakashi had to balance and take into consideration all of the possibilities because it could well be the lives of his students at stake. Either way, he kept his face totally expressionless. _Whatever happens, I can't show any doubt. If Wabisuke detects even the slightest doubt in me, he's won._

Wabisuke leant over the girl's shoulder to speak directly into her ear. "Well girl, I'm afraid your teammates are even more heartless than I thought. The boy is meatheaded and your teacher doesn't seem to care." Sakura turned her tear-stained face to look pleadingly at her tormentor. "So it looks like I really have no use for you after all." Before anyone could move or make a sound, the Iwa-nin had produced a kunai.

Blood sprayed across the room.

Kakashi couldn't help it. He stared in shock at the crumpled body that lay on the floor in front of him, a widening pool of blood spreading from its slashed throat. Naruto retched, his empty stomach throwing up nothing but colourless watery bile. Sakura's eyes stared up at her teacher accusingly as the life faded from them in seconds. _He did it he killed her she must have been real a clone couldn't have withstood that she really was Sakura Keiji is dead Sakura is dead I've failed everyone…_

Naruto raised his head, spitting out bile. "That… wasn't… Sakura-chan…" he gasped defiantly, despite the undisguised shaking in his voice. Kakashi barely heard him. The pool of blood spread wider until it was about to touch his shackled legs…

…and the corpse on the floor collapsed into a pile of sloppy mud and a spreading pool of dirty water.

Wabisuke's nasal laugh boomed out from beside him as Kakashi let out a great shuddering sigh of relief. "Oh dear," chucked the torturer. "I'm afraid I've been a bit of a naughty boy, Kakashi. I hope I didn't scare you _too_ badly, did I?"

_Stay calm. Don't let him know how badly he shook you there._ "Impressive deception," Kakashi replied, his tone as nonchalant as he could manage. "You must have a very unique technique, to make a mud clone able to retain its form for that long after taking that kind of injury. Are there elements of genjutsu involved in it?"

If he was hoping to distract Wabisuke into a conversation, he was disappointed. The scarred jounin had turned his attention back to Naruto again. "Alright then, now the fun is over it's time to get back to work." Breathing heavily, Naruto shot the man a look of deepest loathing. Walking around to stand behind the young man, Wabisuke formed a quick series of seals and placed his hand on the boy's back. To Kakashi's surprise, Naruto flinched but didn't react once the hand touched him- the seals weren't the same ones Wabisuke had used for the Inner Suicide jutsu he had been torturing Naruto with at all. From what Kakashi could make out, it looked like a medical jutsu of some sort. "So, let's see where we left off…"

As the torturer traced his hand over Naruto's exposed flesh, his brow furrowed. "Strange… when we stopped, I was certain that I'd already shredded your left deltoid muscle and your right trapezius muscle completely. But for some reason there's barely any damage to them at all, even though it's been less than an hour." He lifted his hand off Naruto's back and strolled around to look the boy in the eye. "Perhaps you have some kind of regenerative ability? A bloodline limit, perhaps? Interesting…" Naruto only continued to glare at him.

_The Kyuubi!_ Kakashi thought. He remembered the way the deep cut Naruto had inflicted on his own hand after the encounter with the Demon Brothers had begun healing before his eyes less than a minute later, the way the boy had emerged from the fight that had claimed Sasuke's life without so much as a scratch on him, despite the battered state of his clothing. Apparently the demon inside his student would protect him even from the crippling internal injuries Wabisuke's torture would inflict. On one hand, this was very good. It almost eliminated the possibility that Naruto would end up crippled for life by these tortures and would ensure that he should be in relatively good condition when the time came to escape. On the other hand…

"Well!" Wabisuke declared, rubbing his hands together. "This IS good news! Now I don't even need to worry about using you up! Let's find out what the limits of human pain tolerance really are, shall we?"

…there would be no end to the torments the mad ninja would inflict on him.

Kakashi took a deep breath and braced himself for the further trials of his resolve that were yet to come.

oooOOOooo

Akashi Tsuneo's luck looked to be turning.

It had not been a good day. This was not unusual. Still a genin at the age of thirty-two, almost every ninja in the Hosokusa garrison treated him with contempt and bossed him around. He spent most of his time on duty running errands and delivering messages for ninja –often much younger than him- who were too lazy to do it themselves. He even had to spend nearly three hours manning the message tower, sending and receiving dispatches by messenger hawk. That wasn't even a job for a genin, the message tower was supposed to be manned by a chuunin at all times, but that slacker Ginji had skipped out and bullied Tsuneo into covering for him, leaving him bored out of his skull for hours in the tiny room at the top of the tower that stank of the hawks' excrement.

He'd also been dumped with the responsibility for delivering a number of messages to the Commander, none of which had made the man very happy. Tsuneo was terrified of the Commander. He was not alone in this as he doubted there was a single man in the garrison who _wasn't_ terrified of him. Regardless, he had been nominated to deliver the report from the hunter teams that they'd found no sign of the two enemy ninja they'd been sent to track down. The masked jounin had berated him for incompetence and told him the two brats had to be found or there'd be hell to pay, which Tsuneo thought was ridiculously unfair considering he hadn't even been included in the search parties.

Later that afternoon, he'd been forced to relay to the Commander a request from Hosokusa's mayor that something be done about the sound of screaming coming from the garrison tower's dungeon, which was upsetting people. This distraction had garnered him a withering glare, but at least this time he wasn't treated as if it were his fault. Of course, then the Commander had ordered Tsuneo to go and fetch several sacks packed with straw and nail them across the window of the interrogation room like a common carpenter. Tsuneo had done his best to get it done as quickly as possible, trying to ignore the fact that the current subject of his superior's painful ministrations appeared to be a young blond-haired boy who looked to be barely out of the academy.

After he'd finally gone off-duty for the day, tired, frustrated and smelling vaguely of bird crap, he'd headed straight for his favourite bar for a small snack and a large drink. He'd ordered two skewers of yakitori and a bottle of his favourite heated sake and was just settling down to another evening of self-pity when the girl slid onto the stool next to him.

He hadn't even noticed her approaching, which was surprising because she was one of the most eye-catching women he'd seen in a long time. Petite and slim beneath a colourful yukata, with waist-length raven-black hair, bright green eyes and an alluring smile, she looked to be in her early twenties. Wordlessly she reached out, took the small ceramic bottle before he could and poured a measure of steaming sake into his cup.

Tsuneo stared. This kind of thing didn't usually happen to him. Desperately he scrambled for something to say. "Um… hi," he managed weakly, cursing himself for the quaver in his voice. The girl just smiled again.

"You look like you could do with some company, would I be right?" she asked, almost as if daring him to turn her down. He nodded dumbly. "My name is Murasaki Mai. What's yours, handsome?"

Tsuneo picked up the cup and drained it while he tried to remember his own name, barely tasting the sake. "Um, I'm uh… Tsuneo. Akashi Tsuneo." He managed a weak smile in return. Mai returned the smile again and immediately refilled the cup.

"I've never met a real shinobi before," she purred. "Please, tell me all about yourself."

oooOOOooo

Some time later, Tsuneo stumbled through the evening streets, one arm slung across Mai's slender shoulders, his weight pulling her down. For the last several hours she'd listened to him talk about his life and his job –appropriately embellished where necessary- while she poured his drinks. She didn't drink herself, just smiled and listened and nodded and asked the occasional question as he drained each cup. He'd ended up working his way through three bottles. The third bottle had tasted rather funny, but he didn't want to complain to the bartender and make a fuss in front of his companion, so he drank it anyway, keeping a straight face with considerable effort.

Eventually Mai had suggested they go back to her place. By this stage, Tsuneo was feeling rather sleepy so he'd agreed- if only because he couldn't think clearly enough to do anything else. So after Mai had found his wallet and paid his bill for him, Tsuneo had stumbled out of the bar with her, barely able to walk straight. While he'd been hoping for something like this from the first moment he'd laid eyes on the beauty, he was starting to wonder if he'd even be able to stay awake once they reached Mai's residence.

"Whurr'd you say youuuu… live again…?" he slurred, nearly tripping over his own feet. Mai hauled him upright with surprising strength for a girl as slender as her.

"Not far from here," she answered vaguely. "We're almost there." In a tiny, cordoned-off section of Tsuneo's mind, disturbing thoughts were shouting for his attention, waving warning signs. He didn't normally have three full bottles of sake when he drank, but he wasn't such a lightweight that he should have been this incapacitated already. And despite Mai's reassurances, this didn't look like a residential district. From what little Tsuneo could make out through his double vision, they seemed to be surrounded by looming warehouses on either side of the road. But thinking was too hard with a head full of cotton wool, so he ignored the voices and tried to concentrate on not falling over on the spot.

"Not long now," Mai's soothing voice reassured him through the fog. "We'll get you indoors so you can have a nice lie-down."

"Thass good," Tsuneo mumbled and blacked out.

oooOOOooo

Consciousness came back slowly and painfully. His head ached abominably, his mouth was dry and his chest felt compressed, making it hard to breathe. As if from somewhere far away, he heard what sounded like two voices arguing. With an effort of will, Tsuneo tried to focus on what they were saying.

"-don't have time to waste." A boy's voice Tsuneo didn't recognise. "Anything could happen to Naruto-kun and Kakashi-sensei while we're waiting for him to wake up. We need to do _something."_

"Well I'm sorry, OK?" a girl answered rather huffily. Rather than Mai's husky tones, this voice sounded considerably younger and much more annoyed. "I had to avoid arousing suspicion. I asked the apothecary was what kind of dosage would be needed to treat heavy insomnia and he said two doses would ensure six hours uninterrupted sleep, so I had to just hope three would be enough. It's not like I could have asked him 'how much is necessary to knock out an adult male for long enough to get him to a secure location' and he would have thought it was just as odd if I'd asked for an antidote as well. Would it have helped if I'd picked up a strong coffee on the way back?"

Tsuneo groaned inwardly. He should have known it was too good to be true. It was a small blessing that at least it had been the girl who'd tricked him. If it had turned out that he'd been seduced, drugged and captured by a henge-transformed _boy,_ he'd never live it down.

Now his thoughts were back in some semblence of order and his sense of feeling was returning to his body, Tsuneo took stock of his situation. The first thing he noticed was the source of the tightness in his chest. The reason he felt as if he was tightly bound with rope was that he was, in fact, tightly bound with rope. The cords running around his chest were so tight that his chest could barely expand to breathe, making it almost impossible for him to inhale enough air to able to shout for help. His hands had also been bound behind him and he was sitting on a stone floor with his back to a wall. Finally, as a sudden shiver shook his body, he realised that for some reason he was rather wet.

"There's no need to be sarcastic, Sakura-san," the young man's voice said, sounding a little strained. "I'm just saying that maybe we should try something else to wake him up. We've tried shaking him, slapping him and pouring water over his head." Well, that explained the wetness, as well as why his cheeks were stinging. "Maybe we should try sticking him somewhere soft with a kunai?"

"I'm awake! I'm awake!" Tsuneo blurted, his eyes snapping open, panic forcing the clouds from his mind and the numbness from his body. Lifting his head, he found himself looking up at his apparent captors and couldn't stop himself from groaning aloud. A flat-chested, pink-haired girl in a red dress and a tall, gangly boy with messy brown hair, both wearing forehead protectors that identified them as genin from Konoha. Typical. He'd been captured by the same two kids the Commander had half the garrison out scouring the countryside for.

The two kids exchanged glances and the boy gave a small nod. The girl –Sakura- took a deep breath and fixed Tsuneo with the sternest glare she could. "Well, let's get on with this. We brought you here, Akashi-san, because we have some questions about our friends and we think you can answer them for us."

The Iwa-nin returned the glare with as much defiance as he could muster while tied up, soaked, drugged, bruised and being held captive by a couple of kids less than half his age. "I'll tell you nothing, except that you kids should give yourselves up now for your own good. There's no way you'll be able to rescue your companions so you'd be doing yourselves a favor if you just surrender quietly, before it goes worse for you."

Sakura bristled angrily. "Is that what you would do in our position, Akashi-san? Just give up and hope that the people torturing your teammates won't don't the same to you? I think I know why you're still a genin at your age!" Tsuneo winced; that one had struck a bit too close to home. The young kunoichi knelt in front of him, drawing a kunai from a pouch and pointing it straight at his face, staring into his eyes down the length of her arm and past the needle-sharp point. "And you _will_ tell us what we want to know. We're going to save our friends or die trying, so don't think we won't do whatever we have to in order to get what we need. We spent all day listening to Naruto scream, so believe me, we're desperate. If we have to-" she hesitated for only a second. "-t-torture you to make you cooperate, we will."

Their captive scoffed. "You think I'm going to be afraid of _you?_ You don't know what our Commander is like! Your friend's screaming? That's _his _work. He's one of the top interrogators in ANBU." Tsuneo shuddered. "Every ninja here fears him, a kid like _you_ doesn't impress me much." He drew himself up as much as he could in his sitting position. "Besides, you may not think much of me, but I'm a ninja of Iwagakure too. So go ahead and do your worst! There's _nothing _you can do to make me talk!"

Sakura lowered the kunai- but only by forty-five degrees. "I'll cut off your balls."

"_I'LL TALK!"_

oooOOOooo

Kakashi gritted his teeth and let out a low groan as the agony tore up his arm. He could tell Wabisuke was grinning under his mask as his jutsu turned Kakashi's muscles against themselves, the fibres straining against each other, sending pain up the nerves to his brain like acid burning in his veins. But despite his suffering, it was Naruto he was most concerned about.

The boy had already withstood more pain than Kakashi would have believed possible. For almost an entire day he'd refused to break under Wabisuke's torture, until nightfall had brought a modicum of relief. Naruto had even expressed to his teacher the hope that if he could stand it for a day, he could stand it for as long as necessary. But when Wabisuke had returned the next day, he'd escalated his tortures to new and unimaginable levels.

Up until now, their captor had only used his Inner Suicide jutsu to inflict pain by straining and tormenting the muscles of Naruto's arms and back. Now he moved to Naruto's chest, using his technique to affect the young genin's diaphragm and intercostal muscles- the ones that allowed a human to breathe.

Kakashi had been forced to watch helplessly as Naruto's body convulsed, muscles that normally moved automatically overridden and set to strain against themselves. Unable to even draw the breath he needed to scream as the pain set his chest on fire, the most the boy could produce was a strangled gagging noise as he began to suffocate to death before his teacher's horrified eyes. And all the time, the hateful drone of Koga's voice filled his ears, repeating the same questions over and over again. _"Who is the current commander of Konoha's ANBU? How many divisions are there and how many members in total? How many ninja are there in the Hokage's personal guard? What manner-"_

As Naruto's struggles began to weaken and his face turned blue, Kakashi's fears grew. _Wabisuke has given in to his own sadism. He's going to kill Naruto right in front of me._ Just when he was sure his student was about to die, the torturer relented and lifted his hands off Naruto's chest. The boy went limp, hanging loosely in his chains as he raggedly sucked in great gasps of air.

Interrupting Koga's endless drone with a wave of his hand, Wabisuke leaned in close to Kakashi's face again. "Was that fun to watch, Kakashi?" he'd whispered. "Shall I do it again? Or would you prefer to start answering my questions now?" Kakashi hesitated, wavering, turning his eyes back to Naruto's weakly coughing form. The young boy, a genin who'd been a ninja for less than a year, managed to raise his head and meet his teacher's gaze.

And firmly shook his head.

Kakashi had glared back into his enemy's black eyes and repeated the gesture without a word. And Wabisuke had mercilessly repeated the process again and again, each time taking Naruto to the edge of death before relenting.

"You know Kakashi," he'd observed jovially after one cycle as Naruto gasped weakly for breath, "if I keep this up long enough then the boy's muscles will be damaged to the point where he won't be able to expand his lungs even after I've stopped. I hope his healing factor is good enough to keep up, or I might just end up killing him by accident." By this stage Naruto was too weak even to lift his head, but he just barely managed to shake it again. So Kakashi had held his silence.

But even Naruto had his limits. After almost an hour of teetering on the brink of suffocation, the boy had finally passed out, his tortured lungs barely able to draw breath. A chill had run up Kakashi's spine as Naruto hung limp and motionless in his chains. Wabisuke had dragged his head up by the hair and pulled open his eyelids, but there was no response- Naruto was dead to the world. After a quick inspection, the Iwa-nin had callously informed Kakashi that in Naruto's current state, the odds of him ever waking up again were about fifty-fifty. "So until he wakes up –_if_ he wakes up- we can pass the time in other ways." And Wabisuke had turned his sadistic attention to Kakashi in Naruto's place.

Despite the pain engulfing his muscles wherever the torturer laid his hands, Kakashi knew that this pain was nothing compared to what Naruto had already endured. As he struggled to keep himself from screaming, he watched his student's chest weakly rise and fall, the tormented muscles struggling to keep him alive, and prayed that the Kyuubi's power would be enough to save Naruto this time.

oooOOOooo

Naruto awoke with a shocked gasp, water splashing around his body as he sat bolt upright, his chest heaving.

Almost immediately the questions started to pile into his mind. How was he able to sit up? Why was he sitting in about five inches of water? And why didn't his chest actually hurt at all, despite the torture he'd just undergone?

Answering the first two of those only raised more questions: OK so clearly he was not longer shackled, but why? Where the hell was he if not in the cell? There was no answer to the third question, but Naruto was hardly going to complain about a conspicuous absence of chest-crushing agony.

Puzzled, Naruto looked at his surroundings as he stood up, water dripping from his soaked clothing. That was another unexplained mystery, since he'd been left topless when he was chained up in the cell but now he had his shirt and jacket back again. He was standing in the middle of a dimly-lit corridor with pipes and cables running all over the walls and ceiling. There were doors everywhere along the walls, all identical with no indications of where any of them led. The the air was uncomfortably warm, as was the water that came up to his ankles, and it smelled strangely fetid. Naruto wrinkled his nose. He hoped he hadn't wound up in some kind of sewer. Although at least the water appeared to be water and not… something else, so that was something. There was no apparent light source that Naruto could see, making the dim light that pervaded the passage all the more eerie. The only sound that could be heard a distant intermittant noise of rushing air. It sounded like a giant pair of bellows in a forge.

Or, Naruto thought with a nervous chuckle, the breathing of an enormous beast.

One direction looked as good as any other, so he cautiously started walking, all senses alert, his mind racing as he attempted to work out exactly where this strange place was. Could it be some kind of genjutsu? Naruto couldn't think of any other explanation for why someone would unchain him, heal his injuries without a trace, give him his clothing back, drag him down to a flooded tunnel and abandon him there. But if it was a genjutsu, what was it for? Knowing the sadistic games their captor liked to play, it could be anything.

The twisting, turning passages seemed to go on forever. Naruto splashed through the shallow water for what seemed like hours, choosing a direction at random whenever he came to a branch or intersection. The passages were all the same anyway, giving no indication of where any of them might lead. The only thing that changed was the sound of the air moving, which steadily grew louder no matter which way Naruto went. At one point he turned around and started retracing his steps, heading in the opposite direction, yet still the source of the sound seemed to only be getting closer.

As he turned yet another corner, Naruto paused. Just ahead, the passage seemed to finally open up into a room. Cautiously he entered, bracing himself for anything. The room would be more appropriate to call a chamber. It was massive, more than thirty feet wide and longer than the apartment complex Naruto lived in, its ceiling so high it was lost in the darkness. The wall at the the other end was dominated by a huge gate. Its thick bars were spaced far enough apart that Naruto could easily slip between them, its edges were shaped into a twisting filigree and it was sealed shut in the centre by a large paper talisman inscribed with a seal more elaborate and complicated than any Naruto had even seen before. The breathing sound was louder than ever and Naruto had a feeling that its source lay just behind the bars. A chill ran down his spine- a cage like that would be useless for imprisoning a human, but a creature large enough to create the noise he'd been hearing ever since he woke up was a different matter.

Despite his trepidation, Naruto slowly approached the gate. When he was about ten paces from the bars, the breathing sound suddenly cut off. Startled, he stopped and tried to peer into the pitch-black darkness on the other side of the gate. Was that a flicker of movement he saw there…?

"WAAAH!"

Naruto stumbled backwards in shock, slipping and falling on his butt in the shallow water with a splash. A gigantic pair of narrow eyes with hellishly red irises and slit pupils had suddenly snapped open, glowing in the darkness right in front of him and were staring at him with unrestrained malevolence. A deep, throaty chuckle, laced with overtones of a bestial growl, echoed through the massive chamber as the young ninja awkwardly pushed himself back to his feet, water dripping from his body.

"**Boy,"** a deep rumbling voice spoke, **"come here. Come closer so I can get a good look at you."**

Without thinking, Naruto took a trembling step closer to the bars and the eyes lurking behind them, then another. The thing within the cage made a pleased hissing noise as the boy drew slowly closer. Almost in a trance, Naruto approached the bars until he was only a couple of feet away, when a spark of caution made him hesitate. A huge red-furred paw tipped with scythe-like black claws slammed against the bars of the cage, the massive claws barely missing the boy as he desperately sprang backwards. A howl of frustrated rage echoed throughout the room.

The eyes in the darkness moved closer to the bars, revealing the face they were set into- a long, pointed nose, a maw full of fangs, long, bestial ears. **"Damn you, brat! Come here! Let me devour you!"** The paw clawed at the floor on the other side of the bars in frustrated rage, sending waves running across the water that covered the floor and gouging deep rents in the stone.

Panting in shock from his narrow escape, Naruto took a good look at his attacker. His eyes widened as he caught a glimpse of lashing motions in the darkness behind the beast, the movement of many huge tails. "You… I know what you are! You're the Nine-tailed Demon Fox! The Kyuubi that was sealed inside me!" The implications of what he had just said suddenly struck him and he sucked in a breath. "That means that right now I'm…"

The Kyuubi withdrew its claw back into the cage and sat up on its haunches, studying the tiny figure of the boy before it with eyes that burned with malign intelligence. **"That's right, boy. You're inside the seal that the accursed Fourth Hokage used to imprison me within you. This is the mental realm inside of your soul, the place where your chakra meets mine."**

Now that his initial shock was receding, Naruto glared angrily back up at the beast that had blighted his life from the day he was born. "Is that so, huh? Well now I'm here I have a few things to say to you! Do you have any idea how badly you've screwed up my life? Ever since I was a kid, everyone hated me because _you_ were stuck inside of me! Parents told their kids to stay away from me, everyone glared at me everywhere I went, shopkeepers refused to serv-"

"**SILENCE, WHELP!"** the Kyuubi roared, so loudly the walls shook. Naruto flinched, his ears ringing. **"Cease your meaningless whining! You think I ruined your life? Without me, you would already be **_**dead!**_** It's only because of my chakra coursing through you that you haven't already succumbed to the crippling injuries your ineptitude has brought upon you." **The fox tossed its head angrily. **"And wasn't it my power you called on when your friend was killed by the boy with the ice techniques? You weren't so quick to curse my existence then!"**

Naruto's eyes widened. "That time… fighting with Haku… that was _your_ power I used?"

The Kyuubi snorted with contempt. **"Of course it was, foolish brat. Did you think you'd tapped some unknown reservoir of inner strength? Your rage called out to me and used my powers to heal your injuries and break out of the enemy's jutsu to avenge your friend."** It lowered its head close to the floor to stare directly across into Naruto's eyes with its own blazing orbs. **"You blame me for the troubles in your life, but the truth is, you **_**owe**_** me, boy!"**

Angrily, Naruto looked down at the flooded floor. If what the monster said was true… he scowled and raised his eyes to cast the Kyuubi a scornful look of his own. "What a load of crap! You've been squatting inside my body for all these years, you're _obligated_ to help me when I need it. And right now, I need your help, so you'd better do your part and pay up!"

There was a long weighted silence as boy and demon stared each other down, then the Kyuubi let out a loud barking laugh, both amused and mocking. **"You think you can make demands of **_**me,**_** boy? **_**You?**_** You're just a human brat barely old enough to dress yourself! What makes you think you can give **_**me**_** orders?"**

The beast's contempt was really starting to make Naruto angry. "Hey, shut up you stupid fox! I'm thirteen years old, I've been able to dress myself properly for years!" This only made the Kyuubi laugh harder. Naruto fumed helplessly. "Anyway," he shouted over the demon's chortling, "if you _don't_ help me, we're both going to die here, so you should just shut up and give me your chakra!"

The giant fox calmed itself somewhat and gave Naruto what was probably a rather thoughtful look. **"Well, that's an interesting point, boy. Who knows what would happen to me if you died?"** The huge tails lashed from side to side. **"Maybe I'd die with you. Maybe I'd be set free once again. Maybe I'd disperse into a cloud of disembodied chakra for years until I could reform myself. There's no real way of knowing." **The fox turned its head to the side and watched the tiny ninja in front of it with one eye. **"But say I did agree to help you. What would you do, hmm?"**

Naruto bristled. "Well obviously I'd, uh… I'd…" He hesitated for a moment before forging on stoically. "Well I'd break out and rescue Kakashi-sensei then go find Sakura and Keiji of course!"

"**And how do you propose to go about doing that?"** The demon seemed even more amused by Naruto's response. **"With my chakra you have more power to draw on, faster healing and a degree of improved protection and strength, but you can't even form seals at the moment. And no matter how much chakra you have, you won't have enough strength to break out of your restraints."**

Naruto visibly deflated. Much as he hated to admit it, his demonic houseguest had a point. Shackled and restrained as he was in the real world, he couldn't perform so much as a Sexy no Jutsu, regardless of his chakra. Pettily, he glared at the nine-tailed demon. "Well I don't see you offering any useful suggestions."

"**Oh I have a suggestion that would save you." **Naruto blinked in surprise. He hadn't been expecting that. The Kyuubi grinned wolfishly- or perhaps foxily. **"Set me free. I'll save us both and destroy all your enemies for you."**

"No way." Naruto's reply was immediate and automatic. "Nuh-uh. Never. I know what you did before the Fourth Hokage sealed you inside me. I'm NEVER letting you out." He rolled his eyes exasperatedly. He should have expected as much from the creature.

The Kyuubi did not seem surprised by his answer. **"Very well then. I have another idea. You need more than power than free yourself from here. I can give you power, but I can also give you knowledge of a technique that will let you free yourself."**

Naruto grinned. "Now _that_ sounds more like it! Well then, lay it on m-"

"**But!" **the Kyuubi cut him off sharply. **"I'll need you to do something for me as well."** The beast nodded its head towards the large seal that held its cage closed. **"I need you to make some… **_**adjustments**_** to the seal there in order for me to properly share the technique with you."**

The young ninja gave the beast a suspicious look. "What's that for? I don't like the sound of that. I don't want to mess with the seal."

"**What's the matter, boy?** **Don't you trust me?"**

"No."

The Kyuubi barked out another short, harsh laugh. **"Then maybe you're not as stupid as you look! But you'll just **_**have**_** to trust me on this because I'm not asking you to do this, I'm **_**telling**_** you. Either you adjust the seal, or I leave you here to enjoy some more quality time with the torturer."** It massive monster rose onto its paws and stretched, arching its red-furred back as much as it could within the confines of its prison. **"You have a lot more to lose than me here, boy. The worst than can happen to me is that I **_**might**_** die if you do. But if you die here, then I think we can safely write off your sensei as well and you'll never even get the chance to know what happened to your friends. Well? Still going to be stubborn?"**

Naruto wavered. The possibility of freedom, of rescuing his sensei, of having the chance to be the hero who saved and protected everyone was so tempting. But while he didn't know much about the Nine-tailed Demon Fox, he knew enough of its malevolence and destructiveness to know that it couldn't be trusted and if it tricked him and broke free somehow he'd end up being responsible for destruction on a massive scale. "I…" He hesitated. "I… need some time to think about it, OK?" He cast his gaze around at at the bare stone walls of his surroundings. "How do I get out of here anyway?"

The Kyuubi settled down onto the floor and curled itself up as if for a nap. **"Now you know where you are and we're done talking, you should be able to leave automatically by turning your thoughts outwards. If you need to return, you'll know the way now."** It stretched its jaws, wide enough to swallow a horse whole, open in an ostentatious yawn, its foul breath causing Naruto to recoil. **"Take your time and think about what I offered you, boy. No hurry. I'm not going anywhere- and neither are you."** One slit-pupilled eye glared at him before slipping shut. **"Think **_**well.**_** Because your life and the lives of your friends may hang on what you decide."**

oooOOOooo

The girl crept through the darkness, taking care to avoid any of the pools of light cast by the windows of the building around the plaza. Any time the sound of footsteps was heard she went completely still, blending into the shadows and waiting for the echoes to die away.

Sakura's every nerve was on edge. She'd known terror before, the first time they were ambushed by Zabuza on the way to the Wave Country, cowering in the mists with Naruto and Sasuke at any moment expecting to feel the assassin's giant blade slicing through her flesh. But that time she'd been aware of her own powerlessness and her fear had been that Kakashi-sensei wouldn't be able to protect them. She would either live or die and her own actions would have almost nothing to do with the outcome. This time she had no-one to rely on and the failure she had to fear was her own. This time, people were counting on _her._

The interrogation of Akashi Tsuneo had been fruitful, but the information they'd received had been disconcerting. Based on his descriptions of the number of Iwa ninja stationed in Hosokusa, the fortifications of the headquarters tower and the skill and experience of their jounin commander, Wabisuke Ryota –who Sakura and Keiji instantly recognised as the ninja who had disguised himself as their employer- it was painfully obvious that rescuing Naruto and Kakashi-sensei from their prison was almost completely impossible. The town had almost thirty genin and chuunin based out of it, including Tsuneo himself, although it was a small blessing that Wabisuke was the only jounin stationed there at this time. Some were constantly out on either patrols or minor missions, although there were usually at least twenty in town at any given time. At this particular time, however, the enemy commander had three full teams of four men each out scouring the countryside for the two of them, so that was some relief.

Tsuneo had been unable to enlighten his captors about Wabisuke's larger plans, or his reasons for capturing them Naruto and Kakashi-sensei in the first place. The jounin hadn't shared his secrets with anyone in the garrison, with the possible exception of his aide Koga. There were only two things he'd been able to tell them. The first was that the Konoha-nin had been framed for attacking the caravan they'd been hired to protect, although he couldn't explain why or how this was going to be proven.

The second thing was the most troublesome piece of information they'd been able to extract from him. As a result of the frame-up, Wabisuke was going to have both Naruto and Kakashi-sensei publically executed the next morning.

Sakura had almost panicked at that. If Keiji hadn't stopped her, she might have ran out of the warehouse right then to do… she had no idea what. Something reckless and stupid that would have gotten her captured or killed. She was lucky that the older boy had been on hand to put a calming hand on her arm and convince her they needed to use the information to create an organised plan to save their friend and their teacher.

They'd spent the rest of the day doing just that, hiding behind a stack of heavy crates in case someone entered the warehouse, their prisoner bound and gagged beside them. This had proved a wise precaution as groups of men had twice entered to carry boxes in or out. When they were working out their plan, the two genin fell into an easy rhythm. Sakura was the creative one, who took the initiative and suggested ideas, while Keiji worked better in the role of the devil's advocate, pointing out potential flaws in her plans and questioning her on how they would respond to different possibilities, until they had a plan that was, if not quite foolproof, then at least workable.

The problems didn't start until it came time to begin the preparations for the plan.

oooOOOooo

"_Sakura-san, I seriously can't let you do this on your own!" Keiji argued. "It's too dangerous. This isn't like last night where you were walking around in disguise trying to be unobtrusive. If you get noticed, the enemy will attack you at once! You _have_ to let me go with you."_

_Sakura sighed. "I know, Keiji-kun. But I have to do it alone. If two of us are out there at once it'll only double the chances that someone will see us and…" She hesitated. "…you know, you can't get around that well at night anyway."_

_Keiji visibly flinched at her words. Making a visible effort to keep his voice level he said "I know that, Sakura-san. But you can't just expect me to sit around here while you go out putting yourself in danger. You can't do it all by yourself." Despite his efforts, his voice began to rise. "I have to help you. I _won't_ be left behind again!"_

_Instantly, Sakura understood where this had all come from. "Keiji-kun, no-one thinks you're useless, or not pulling your weight," she said softly. "We're not going to leave you out or abandon you again. We ARE going to do this together. But I need you to trust me to be able to play my part and I'll trust you to play yours. Remember what I told you the week after we first met? I trust you to be a member of this team."_

_Keiji blushed slightly at how easily Sakura had pinpointed the source of his insecurity, but managed to force an awkward half-smile. "I… thanks for saying that, Sakura-san. But I still don't want to just sit here and watch our prisoner while you're out risking your life." Akashi Tsuneo was lying tucked out of sight in-between two crates, tightly bound hand and foot and snoring through his gag. "OK, so I can't go with you, but there has to be _something_ meaningful that I can do."_

_His teammate looked thoughtful. "There is," she said eventually. "You can't come _with_ me, but we should be playing to our strengths in any case. So while I prepare the battleground, you can scout out the ideal position for yourself for tomorrow. Find somewhere from where you can keep an eye on me while I do my job and I'll feel a lot more secure."_

_Keij gave her an enthusiastic grin. "Will do, Sakura-san. Let's move out."_

oooOOOooo

Keiji slowly crept across the rooftop without making a sound, pausing for a moment in the shadow of a chimney to cast a cautious glance around to see if anyone was looking in his direction. Not seeing anything, he slipped out of cover, dashed to the edge of the roof and silently leaped across to the next building, his feet not making a sound as they danced lightly across the tiles.

Unlike Konoha, Hosokusa lacked huge defensive walls that towered over the buildings, or a cliff looming over it, or many particularly large structures at all. In fact, the only place an unfriendly observer could possibly be standing at an angle where they could easily spot him when he was crouched low on the rooftops was the three-storey garrison tower itself and that was nearly on the opposite side of town. Anyone who happened to glance up from the streets below stood a fair chance of noticing him silhouetted against the moon if he chose the wrong moment to leap to the next building, but as long as he moved slowly and carefully and didn't have an unfortunate run-in with another roof-hopping ninja, he stood a fair chance of crossing the entire town undetected.

Down on the shadowy streets his vision was severely inhibited, but there was a nearly full moon out tonight, although the cloud cover was sporadic. Looking across the rooftops of the town, Keiji had been able to see clear from one side of Hosokusa to the other. It hadn't taken him long to pick out his destination- a large water tower about fifty feet from the outer edge of the central plaza where Sakura was working. Tsuneo had told them that Wabisuke was planning on executing Kakashi and Naruto there, up on the elevated wooden platform used for public gatherings and announcements. From the top of the tower, Keiji knew he'd have a clear view of practically the entire plaza.

A cloud drifted over the moon and the young genin took advantage of the additional darkness to cross the last three roofs in quick succession and leap across the gap to the tower. Catching onto the edge of the wooden platform the huge metal drum was sitting on, he pulled himself up and used his chakra to quickly climb up to the top. Lying spreadeagled on the cold metal surface, he opened his backpack, removed a patterned blanket and spread it over himself, covering his body completely. The blanket would camouflage him against casual glances on the off chance any hostile ninja jumped past higher than the top of the tower, while still allowing him to look out and see the plaza. It was a tool commonly used by ninja to hide in plain sight, as its patterning –different on each side- allowed it to blend in against a surprising number of different surfaces. He and Sakura had hidden under one the night they'd lost Naruto-kun and Kakashi-sensei, in fact. The fact that it would also keep him relatively warm was just a bonus.

Peering out at the plaza, Keiji scanned for any sign of Sakura. The central plaza of Hosokusa was a huge open area in the centre of town where the four largest streets met, surrounded by shops, restaurants and other buildings. Despite his keen vision, Keiji was unable to find any trace of his teammate, which was a good thing. If he couldn't see her, it was that much less likely that anyone else would be able to either. Still, he couldn't help but worry that maybe she wasn't there, that she'd already been discovered, subdued and captured before he'd even reached his position. Regardless, there was no way for him to know for sure, so the only thing he could do was wait and have faith in his teammate.

Just as he finished reassuring himself of this, Keiji caught a glimpse of movement over by the platform as a shadowy figure emerged from under the wooden structure. He couldn't be sure in the dim light, but it _looked_ to be about Sakura's size. Keeping low to the ground, the figure moved in a crouching sprint out from her hiding spot, heading towards the edge of the plaza. Suddenly, the clouds shifted and the moonlight flooded the area. Keiji caught his breath as Sakura froze for a split second, then dived for cover beneath a bench. He cursed silently as he saw what looked like an Iwa ninja –the moonlight gleaming off the forehead protector on the man's head- enter the plaza from the side opposite from him on the north and begin walking across towards the street leading off towards the west gate of Hosokusa. His path would take him within only a dozen feet of Sakura's makeshift hiding place and Keiji slipped a hand across to his bandolier, ready to throw off his concealment and send a shuriken hurtling towards the man if it looked like he'd spotted her. The plan would be ruined if that happened, but there would be no other way.

Seconds passed like hours as the man's feet took him closer and closer to the bench. Keiji held his breath and his entire body tensed. Just when it seemed like it would be impossble for the Iwa-nin _not_ to notice the girl, the clouds drifted back over the moon again, plunging the scene into deep gloom and reducing the figures in the plaza to vague shadowy shapes. Keiji let out a sigh of relief as the shape of the enemy passed Sakura's hiding place and headed towards the exit of the plaza without pausing. It was going to be a long night.

It had occurred to him when he'd first decided on his observation spot that it was disturbingly similar to the position he'd taken when the shark-like missing-nin had murdered his friends on Team 5. It seemed like an entire lifetime ago now. That night, he hadn't been able to save anyone and had barely escaped with his life. _This time,_ he grimly resolved to himself, _it will be different. Tomorrow will be different._

oooOOOooo

Naruto groaned in pain as he stirred in his chains. His body was one huge ache. Over two days hanging in a restricted position was starting to take its toll on his muscles and he felt so stiff he could barely move.

Opening his eyes was a struggle; they seemed to be gummed shut and he couldn't reach them to wipe them. Shaking his head he managed to tear open first his right then his left, to find Kakashi-sensei staring at him with worry in his eye. His teacher looked like hell, but Naruto doubted he looked any better.

"Naruto, are you OK?" the jounin questioned him, concern audible in his voice. "You were out for so long, I was worried you were going to die."

Naruto gave him a shaky grin. "Nah, nothing can kill me. Just having a bit of a nap, getting my strength back." He flexed as much as he could in his chains, ignoring the screaming of his cramped muscles. Something about his sensei caught his attention and he blinked in surprise, then turned to look at his own arm. Yes, there was no mistaking it- somehow, both Kakashi-sensei and himself were fully dressed again, their shirts and jackets restored to them as if they'd never left. Kakashi's iconic mask had been replaced over his mouth too. Naruto's jacket even seemed to even be somewhat cleaner than he remembered, the worst of the mud from Wabisuke's swamp jutsu gone, leaving it merely dirty rather than caked with a solid coating of mud. "Hey Kakashi-sensei, our clothes are back. Neat."

His teacher looked more perturbed than reassured. "Yes, they knocked me unconscious with a chakra-freezing technique earlier this morning and redressed both of us while we were out. I have a nasty suspicion I know why they-"

"Wait a second, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto interrupted, confused. "Did you said 'earlier this morning'? How long was I out for?"

Kakashi sighed. "Most of yesterday, all night and all morning up until now," he replied. "It's about nine o'clock now by my estimation."

Naruto stared. He'd been unconscious for _that_ long? He'd lost track of time while he'd been wandering the corridors of his soul-seal-prison-maze-thing, but he didn't think it had been almost an entire day! He shook his head. He had more important things to worry about. "Kakashi-sensei, I need to tell you something important." He took a deep breath and braced himself as his teacher nodded. "While I was out, I had this sort of dream-thingy where I m-"

He cut himself off, cursing under his breath and Kakashi tensed as they heard the familiar sound of footsteps outside the cell once again. Naruto felt like he really needed to tell his sensei about what the Kyuubi had offered and get his advice before doing anything, but there was just no way he could mention such things in front of their captors.

The lock clicked, the door swung open and Naruto's face distorted in fury as their hated tormentor strolled into the room, the skinny form of his assistant Koga silently slipping in behind him. The huge jounin chuckled humourlessly when his eyes met the Konoha genin's glare. "Well, Koga, would you look at that? The brat managed to wake up after all!" Wabisuke shook his head incredulously. "Just in the nick of time too. If he'd still been a vegetable by the time I got here, I was going to just cut his throat to put him out of his misery."

"If you want to put me out of my misery," Naruto growled, "you could start by cutting your _own_ throat instead!"

The man's eyes hardened above his mask. "You never run out of smart-mouth defiance, do you, brat?" Passing Kakashi's chained form with three quick strides, he backhanded Naruto across the face with a loud _crack._ Naruto did not cry out, but went right back to glaring at his enemy with renewed hatred, blood trickling from his lip. "Two days I've wasted on the two of you. And I can't say it hasn't been fun, listening to you scream-" he turned to Kakashi, "-and watching you squirm. But you're quite the most thick-headed, stubborn pair I've ever encountered and I've run out of both time and patience."

"Finally giving up are you, ugly?" Naruto taunted him from behind. Instantly, Wabisuke spun around and struck Naruto again even harder. The boy coughed and spat out a glob of blood-flecked saliva, but refused to be cowed by the older man, meeting his gaze fearlessly even as his cheek started to swell where he'd been struck.

Wabisuke matched the boy's glare for a moment before turning back to his teacher, ignoring Naruto. "Unfortunately, we have to dispatch our weekly report to Iwagakure today and the last thing I need would be for someone else to come out here to question you further, someone you might be more willing to answer questions for, even to volunteer information to. So I'm going to have to dispose of you before I send off the report, which will include both a transcript of your confession to your acts of aggression against the Land of Earth and also _this_." He produced a small red scroll from a pocket on his jacket and held it up in front of his prisoner so Kakashi could see the ornate seal on the front of it.

Kakashi's eye widened. "That's… where did you get one of those?"

Despite the situation and even though he couldn't see what Wabisuke was holding, Naruto couldn't help but be intrigued. "What is it, Kakashi-sensei?"

It was Wabisuke who answered. "It's a Konoha Seal of Secrets, boy. They're affixed only to absolute top-secret mission scrolls by the Hokage himself, locking them with a unique chakra seal that only a specific ninja is supposed to be able to open. For example, this one is keyed to Kakashi's chakra and is supposed to be for his eyes only. They're not impossible to bypass, but difficult enough; I'm going to report that it took me _hours_ to get this one open." He chuckled. "It's not _real_ of course, but with the amount of time and effort I put into making this, it should be able to convince almost anyone that it's authentic, especially since Kakashi's chakra signature is certainly real enough, thanks to his generous donation. The scroll contains details of his special S-rank mission to infiltrate the Land of Earth by faking the destruction of his team and their clients by bandits. He would then engage in further sabotage before personally assassinating the Daimyo, all as a precursor to Konoha's invasion of Iwagakure." The Iwa-nin laughed coldly. "Fortunately, I managed to intercept him at the start of his mission and capture him, extracting a full confession and details before personally executing him and his accomplice. The evidence I have here will easily be enough to convince the Daimyo to pressure Iwa into declaring war on Konoha, especially with the amount of public support I'm going to drum up."

Kakashi was horrified. When Wabisuke had first outlined his plan two days ago, it had sounded outrageous but possible. Now it was starting to sound frighteningly practical. If the forged secret mission scroll passed inspection then few would question the validity of the orders contained within it. With enough political pressure from the Land of Earth's Daimyo, who would undoubtably be panicked by the idea of an assassination mission aimed at him, and with Wabisuke and his co-conspirators agitating from behind the scenes, Iwa might not even look that hard. Even Naruto had fallen silent, his face a mask of horror at the thought of war engulfing their beloved village.

Turning back to Kakashi, Wabisuke folded his arms. "Well, it's time to get this show on the road. I'm sorry we didn't have time to repair or dry-clean your clothing, but the two of you should still look appropriately convincing as villainous enemy ninja out to destroy the country when we bring you out in front of the crowd. It wouldn't do for you to look too pathetic, people might start to feel a bit sorry for you." He nodded to Koga, who went to the open door and called down the hallway. Four large shinobi entered the room and took up positions beside Naruto and Kakashi. Wabisuke flipped the counterfeit mission scroll to Koga and extracted a ring of keys from one of his pouches. The two men behind Kakashi gripped him tightly by the arms, one holding each limb, as Wabisuke unlocked the shackles around his wrists. His cramped muscles howled in protest as he was able to lower his arms for the first time in days, but he didn't even have a moment to enjoy the freedom of movement before his arms were twisted behind him and his hands locked together with a padlock linking together the two gauntlets that encased his hands. The shackles were removed from his legs as well and the guards hauled him to his wobbly feet as blood rushed freely through his aching limbs.

The same process was repeated for Naruto. The boy struggled futilely as soon as the first lock was undone, but was helpless to resist as he was restrained the same way as his teacher. The two of them, barely able to stand, were dragged in front of Wabisuke who looked down on them trumphantly. Even through the cloth mask that covered his mutilated face, the two Konoha ninja could _feel_ his smirk of sadistic satisfaction. He glanced across at one of the guards. "Has the crowd assembled yet?"

"Yes sir," the man responded. "The announcements were made this morning and there's at least two hundred people out there now."

"Well, we'd best not keep them waiting," Wabisuke said with a chuckle. He turned to Koga. "Go back to the office and get working on that report. You know what to put in it. I want it dispatched as soon as we're done here. Show it to me when I come back, then we'll send it." The thin man nodded and pocketed the precious scroll that could doom Konoha to war before leaving the cell. The sadistic jounin met the hateful glares of his two prisoners, drinking in their helpless rage with glee. "Well gentlemen, I hope you're ready to give the performance of your lives." He gestured to the guards. "Take them out."

As they were dragged away, Naruto began struggling and yelling defiance and abuse. Kakashi, however, just nailed his nemesis with a piercing stare from his one uncovered eye. "I'm going to kill you, Wabisuke," the jounin said calmly as he was marched toward the door. "Count on it."

The mad ninja just laughed.

TO BE CONTINUED…

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AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Argh. I'm SO sorry about this one. Again, it wasn't supposed to be a cliffhanger ending, but as you may have noticed this chapter is about a month and a half late. It was when I noticed that it was already more than TWICE the length of chapter 4 and still not finished that I realised I was going to have to make it a 3-parter. This arc has kind of grown out of control, but I still think it's making for pretty good reading (if I do say so myself) so I'm willing to let it. Chapter 6, the end of the arc, will probably be a bit shorter, but will be almost all action from start to finish. To make up for this one being so late, I swear I'll have it out before the end of the week. That's a promise, gentle readers.

Aside from its length, I don't really have a good reason for this being so late. A whole bunch of distractions arose such as Smite, Might and Magic: Duel of Champions, Adventure Time and the League of Legends League Championship Series Spring Split, but they're not reasons, just excuses. In my defence, I found some scenes of this chapter REALLY hard to write. I tend to visualise how scenes play out in my head before I write them which makes it a lot easier, but a lot of the talky stuff was impossible to properly visualise, causing me to stall a lot. Like I said, the story kind of grew out of control.

Don't really have much to say this time beyond all the apologising. I am gratified, though, to see that my story keeps slowly gathering more followers and favourites, even with the long delay between updates. Thank you. I'd appreciate any reviews you could spare.

NEXT TIME:

The moment of truth has finally arrived for Team 7. Can Sakura and Keiji save their teammates and foil Wabisuke's plans for war with Konoha? And what price might be demanded for their lives? Find out in **Naruto: The Secret Songs of the Ninja chapter 6- The Song of Desperate Courage.**

- Arcane Azmadi


	6. Chapter 6

NARUTO: THE SECRET SONGS OF THE NINJA.

**Disclaimer:** Come on if you think you're hard enough!

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Chapter 6- The Song of Desperate Courage.

Sakura couldn't help but stare. She hadn't been expecting _anything_ like this. She'd heard the public announcements shouted in the streets and seen the notices the Iwa-nin had posted on the public message boards, but had been expecting maybe a few dozen people at most to show up for Naruto and Kakashi-sensei's public execution.

More people than she could count were crammed into the central plaza of Hosokusa, an endless mass of faces and bodies. Sakura was trapped on the outside edge at the southern entrance with literally hundreds of people between her and the stage. This was a serious complication that she and Keiji hadn't accounted for. Keiji _had_ raised the question of what they'd do if there was more than, say, fifty people, but they hadn't made allowances for the possibility of it being standing room only. About the only bright side was that, even if she hadn't been hiding behind a henge, there was effectively no chance of her being spotted in this crowd.

There was no-one on the platform yet and still no sign of either her friends or the enemy, but Sakura knew she had to get to her position before it was time to begin. Taking a deep breath, she dived into the muttering sea of humanity.

oooOOOooo

From his elevated observation position, Keiji swore under his breath so vilely that Sakura would have slapped him if she'd been in earshot. The plaza was overcrowded with townsfolk. If the two of them went ahead with the plan they'd concocted under these circumstances, the likelihood of an innocent civilian getting involved, injured or even killed rose from a possibility to a certainty. But this was just something they were going to have to accept. They had no backup plan because this was the only plan that could work; they had no 'abort' signal because backing down was not an option. Any casualties that resulted from their actions were something they were just going to have to live with if they wanted to save their friends. Keiji would not hesitate to bloody his hands if that was what it took for him to avoid failing his friends again, but that didn't mean he could be happy about it.

oooOOOooo

Sakura wormed her way through the crowd, keeping low, pushing past people and murmuring a constant litany of apologies. Despite the press of the crowd, she still needed to avoid doing anything that would attract too much obvious attention to herself. People pressed in around her on all sides, towering over the petite teenage girl. She still had about forty feet to go and was making pretty good progress when the mutter of the crowd started to rise to a low roar. Startled, Sakura tried to stand on her tiptoes to see over the top of the crowd, but someone trod on the hem of her kimono as she straightened up and she stumbled into the person in front of her. "Hey, watch out!" the woman snapped, pushing her back.

Sakura caught her balance again. "Sorry, ma'am," she apologised. "I slipped. Um, what's happening? I can't see anything."

"The shinobi are bringing the prisoners out," the woman informed her, mollified. "You might not want to get any closer, dearie, this could be a bit gruesome for a child like you."

_Naruto! Kakashi-sensei!_ "Um, thanks all the same, but I have to go," Sakura improvised hastily. "I… arranged to meet up with my boyfriend near the stage." With a quick bow, she plunged back into the crowd.

oooOOOooo

Keiji heard the rising roar and his keen eyes spotted the crowd parting for the small procession of Iwa ninja and their prisoners. There were seven of them, two each on either side of Naruto and Kakashi restraining them firmly by the arms, two going out in front to clear the crowd out of the way and one striding in the middle, a looming, menacing figure with his face covered by a loose cloth mask. Keiji shuddered. That had to be the jounin commander, Wabisuke Ryota, the torturer who had masterminded this whole incident. Roughly a dozen more Iwa-nin had taken up positions on the roofs of the buildings surrounding the plaza, watching the crowd below, but none were nearly close enough to have a chance of spotting him up on top of the water tower.

Naruto and Kakashi had their arms restrained behind them. Tsuneo had mentioned the retraint gauntlets that were locked around the hands of shinobi prisoners to inhibit their usage of seals and Keiji guessed that the gauntlets had been locked together somehow, as they'd predicted. Kakashi-sensei looked deadly calm and Naruto was visibly angry, but neither had any visible injuries on them. The interrogation of their prisoner hadn't yielded any information about the exact details of techniques being used to torture the two of them, but Tsuneo had told them that it didn't leave any marks that showed. Keiji just had to hope that his teacher and his teammate would be ready and able to fight when the moment came.

Worriedly, he scanned his gaze over the crowd again, to no avail. Good as his vision was, there were just too many people for him to be able to pick Sakura out, especially with her distinctive pink hair disguised behind the plain brown bob cut of her henge form. All he could do was wait for the signal then do his part as best he could. It was time for them to save their friends, or die trying.

oooOOOooo

Naruto's two guards were chatting quietly to each other over the top of his head as they frogmarched him through the shouting, jeering crowd. "Where the hell is that idiot Akashi anyway?" the one on his left, a stocky, bald man wearing a small pair of round, dark glasses muttered angrily. "This is the second day in a row he hasn't shown up for duty. When the commander gets his hands on him, he's going to cut off his balls!"

"You didn't hear?" answered the other one with a lecherous grin. This one was of average height with bleached white streaks shooting through his black hair. "Apparently that loser Tsuneo got lucky with a real beauty at Morikawa's two nights ago. Went staggering home with her hanging all over him. He might have been sleeping off his hangover yesterday, but I can only imagine she's been keeping him busy today as well. By the time the commander catches up with him, his balls might have already dried up and dropped off!"

_Well at least _someone's_ got some luck,_ Naruto reflected bitterly as his escorts marched him up the wooden steps onto the execution platform. It was a large, solid construct, the top about four feet off the ground, sitting on six thick posts. The Iwa-nin marched him to the middle and forced him to his knees beside Kakashi-sensei.

"I'm sorry about this, Naruto," his teacher whispered to him in a hoarse voice. "You should have never gotten involved in this."

"It's OK sensei," he whispered back. "It's not your fault. Look, I was telling you earlier, I had this dream ab-"

The bald guard cuffed him roughly on the back of the head, jarring him into silence. "No talking!"

Naruto cursed inwardly. He had to decide whether or not to take the Kyuubi's offer on his own. While he himself had nothing left to lose, he knew the prospect of the monster breaking loose again was even scarier than his own death. There was every possibility that if it did, the demon might attack Konoha again out of sheer spite- and this time there would be no Fourth Hokage to stop it. Despised as the creature's container and guardian for his entire short life, Naruto would be damned if his final act was going to be to make it all for nothing. Even if it _was_ possible that he'd be able to control the Kyuubi's power, the risk was too great to take for something as small as his own life.

Would it be worth the risk if he did it to save Kakashi-sensei? Naruto glanced sideways at his sensei again. The man had his eye closed, his face completely calm and expressionless. Like any good shinobi, he'd come to terms with the inevitability of death. Naruto was torn. He wanted to save his teacher at almost any cost- but would Kakashi-sensei even want to be saved by something so dangerous? Naruto wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling the answer was 'no'.

"Citizens of Hosokusa!" Wabisuke shouted, his nasal voice booming across the plaza and silencing the crowd. "We've assembled you here today to show you the end of two dangerous enemies of our nation! These two you see before you are enemy ninja from the village of Konoha in the Land of Fire, who were sent here to-"

_Well, it's not like I'm going anywhere in a hurry,_ Naruto thought glumly, tuning out the Iwa-nin's bombastic proclamation. Maybe he should just go back into the Kyuubi's soul-prison-thing for a bit to ask it some more questions? Maybe that would help him make up his mind? Naruto closed his eyes, took a deep breath and turned his thoughts inwards.

Nothing happened.

After a few awkward moments, Naruto released his breath with a _whoosh_. **"If you need to return, you'll know the way now"** the fox had told him, but that appraisal seemed a bit overoptimistic now the moment came. How did you get into your own soul?

"Damn it!" he cursed aloud. He earned only another slap for his trouble and groaned with frustration.

oooOOOooo

"-the infamous Copy-Ninja Hatake Kakashi, a man who has murdered hundreds of innocents without mercy! His mission was not only to disrupt the workings of our country and upset the daily lives of our citizens, but also to murder our beloved daimyo, Senrei Akihito-sama himself!"

An angry roar rose from the crowd at the jounin's words. Sakura paid no attention, too concerned with slipping between an extremely fat man and a kindly-looking older woman, both of whom were shaking their fists in the air and shouting angry abuse at the two Konoha-nin on the stage along with everyone else. There was only a short distance to her destination left now, a point about twenty feet in front of the stage. Dodging around a tall, handsome young man who had his arm slung across the shoulders of a busty girl, Sakura was finally close enough to the front to let her see the men standing on the platform. She let out a sigh of relief as she knelt down on the ground and-

Where was it?

A chill running down her spine, the young kunoichi began scanning the ground around her, peering between legs and around bodies. Desperately she began roaming around the confined space, searching frantically for what she knew had to be there.

Up on the stage, Wabisuke had finished speaking and beckoned to his guards. Naruto was hauled forward, kicking and struggling and forced to his knees with his head bowed. One of the other ninja came up behind Wabisuke and handed him a long scabbard, from which he drew a heavy-bladed, razor-edged executioners sword. As he nodded to the guards holding Kakashi-sensei, one of them grabbed the Copy-nin by his spiky silver hair and dragged his head up, forcing him to watch his student's fate.

_Where was it?_

oooOOOooo

Keiji was about to panic. The plan hadn't allowed for any dramatic last-second grandstanding. Sakura had been supposed to set it in motion shortly after the execution party had arrived on the stage. He'd already thrown off his camoflage blanket and risen to a half-crouch, ready to attack the instant the signal was given. But for some reason, even though the execution was already about to take place, Sakura was late.

Keiji bit his lip as he watched the enemy commander take up a position next to Naruto's kneeling form. The plan called for him to attack only after the initial distraction went off. If he went ahead on his own initiative it would be only a matter of moments before the enemy ninja pinpointed his position and minutes at best after that before they overwhelmed him. But if he delayed any longer, it could be too late.

For a brief moment he considered the bulk of his Deathwind Shuriken, which he'd laid down on top of the tank behind him. That would certainly create quite a distraction. But regretfully he dismissed it. He wasn't practiced enough with the oversized weapon yet; at this range he'd be lucky to land it anywhere near the right target. If he was unlucky enough, he might even end up doing the executioner's job for him. Turning back to the scene before him, he began calculating the ranges and feeling the nuances of the air flow on his skin, preparing himself to strike at extreme range.

Slipping his hands across the bandoliers on his chest, the genin filled his fists with his regular shuriken. Something might have happened to Sakura. Maybe this would all be futile. But even if his first strike would be his last, he had to attack.

Straightening up to his full height, he slowly raised his hand…

oooOOOooo

_There!_

Sakura finally spotted what she'd been looking for- a small wire emerging from the ground, pinned under the sandal of a huge, thuggish-looking man. Springing to his side, she hastily reached up to tap him on his shoulder. "Um, excuse me sir, would you mind moving your foot? I dropped my purse."

The man didn't even look at her, his attention fixed on the stage. "Buzz off, kid."

Up on stage, Wabisuke had raised his sword up above his head, ready to bring it down on Naruto's unprotected neck. Naruto had gone completely still. A hush fell over the plaza, hundreds of pairs of eyes either locked on the sight or averted in fear. Sakura hesitated for only a second. It was too late to worry about drawing attention to herself at this stage.

A kunai slipped out of her sleeve and into her hand. Dropping to one knee, she drove the sharp blade without hesitation into the back of the thug's calf.

Giving a sharp yell of pain, the man leaped away, crashing into the three people beside him and sending them all tumbling down in a heap. All nearby eyes turned in their direction- including one solitary dark eye from on top of the stage. But Sakura was already reaching for the wire, grasping it, sending a pulse of chakra running down it.

The world exploded.

oooOOOooo

Chaos reigned.

The air was filled with explosions, flames, smoke, splinters of wood, chunks of stone, shards of slate and shocked screams. All thirty of the explosive tags Sakura had spent most of the previous night placing on the buildings all around the plaza and carefully concealing, all linked by a web of chakra-conducting wires buried just under the ground and meeting at a single point, detonated simultaneously. So did the ones she'd carefully positioned on the platform supporting the execution party. All six of the thick wooden legs blew out at once in an eruption of splinters and the entire platform bucked like a horse struck by an arrow as it was tossed into the air before crashing to the ground in a mass of shattered wood, hurling every man on top of it sprawling.

The crowd panicked, terrified screams and cries of pain drowning out any sense of rational thought. People streamed from the plaza in a human wave, pushing and shoving to flood the streets leading out as debris rained down. The burned body of an Iwa shinobi who'd had the misfortune to be stationed on a rooftop right above the spot where one of the tags had been concealed crashed to the ground near the wreckage of the platform, hurled over forty feet through the air by the devastating blast.

Wabisuke Ryota staggered to his feet, dazed. He'd dropped the sword when the entire world had turned upside-down, but he quickly uncoiled his kusari-gama from where it hung at his waist and looked around for the attackers.

Just in time. He barely managed to see the shuriken before it was on him and it missed him by a hair as he dodged, slicing through the air where his head had been only half a second before. Another three hissed past, before a fifth buried itself in the flesh of the next man to regain his feet, striking the groggy shinobi in the stomach and knocking him back to the ground with a cry of agony.

Wabisuke cursed and crouched low to the ground as more blades buzzed by overhead and a piece of shattered roof tile smashed on the ground in front of him, sending shards of ceramic flying. Judging from the number of shuriken there must have been at least five or six enemy ninja attacking, but with all the smoke and carnage he couldn't pinpoint their location.

Too late he remembered the other possible threat. His only warning was the sound of rapid footsteps behind him. As he turned, his cloth-masked face met a sandalled foot coming the other way as Hatake Kakashi, his metal-gloved hands still locked behind him, delivered a brutal soccer-ball kick which sent the Iwa-nin rolling away across the ground, his mask torn off and blood streaming down his mutilated face.

He managed to get his hands up in front of him to protect himself from a follow-up attack, but Kakashi had already leaped away. Swearing aloud, Wabisuke flipped himself up to his feet and, disregarding the threat of the shuriken buzzing around him, went after his most hated foe.

oooOOOooo

Faster. Harder. More accurate. Faster. Faster! _Faster!_

Kyoshun Keiji's hands moved in a blur, snatching shuriken from his bandoliers and hurling them down into the chaos of the plaza with as much accuracy as he could muster. Sweat dripped from his brow and his muscles had already started to ache, but he couldn't let himself stop for even a second. Before he'd begun, he'd emptied out his numerous pouches and stacked their contents in neat piles around him for use once he'd exhausted the sixty he wore on his bandoliers for easy use. He'd gone though more than half of of those sixty in these first twenty seconds and was starting to wonder how long his reserves would last.

He'd never been tested like this before. The distance between him and his enemies in and around the plaza was well over a hundred feet. He'd been throwing at a rate of more than one shuriken per second ever since the initial explosions had cleared enough for him to pick out the enemy. He had to hit man-sized targets amid massive clouds of black smoke and hordes of screaming people. This was unlike anything he'd even had to do before, even in his most extreme training sessions. But as the adrenaline thundered through his bloodstream, he found he could do it!

The plan had been simple- once Sakura detonated the tags, Keiji would attack with everything he had. Hopefully the sheer volume of shuriken he could throw and the range he could attack from would trick the Iwa-nin into thinking they were under attack by a much larger force, creating enough confusion for Sakura to free Kakashi-sensei and Naruto. However thanks to the unexpectedly large crowd, they'd underestimated exactly how much chaos their attack would cause. Keiji knew that at this kind of range and throwing with this much speed, even his shuriken were not terribly accurate. Maybe one in five was aimed well enough to even threaten an enemy ninja and he was sure his misses had inflicted numerous wounds on innocent civilians. His eagle-sharp eyes couldn't overlook the bodies lying strewn across the plaza, injured or possibly even dead or dying citizens of Hosokusa struck down by explosions, flying debris, or his own weapons. But there was no turning back now, too late to do anything, it was time to fight or die.

He spotted a glimpse of motion approaching and spotted a solitary enemy ninja leaping across the rooftops towards him, apparently stationed far enough from the centre of the chaos and with good enough eyes to be able to trace his attacks back to him. At a range of forty feet, Keiji marked the man, made an instantaneous calculation and spun three shuriken towards him. The first missed, but the other two caught him in mid-leap, one in the side of the chest and one in the leg. The ninja stumbled as he landed on the injured leg, collapsed onto the sloped tiles and rolled off the roof to crash to the ground in a crumpled heap, either unconscious or dead.

Turning his attention back to the centre of the action, Keiji spotted one of the rooftop sentries he'd seen earlier charging across the ground towards the wreckage of the stage where his friends were. The crowd was already starting to thin out as they fled away from the centre where the ninja were, pressing around the entrances of the streets leading out of the plaza with the wounded and those brave enough to try and help them get to safety straggling behind. Keiji took a split-second to aim and hurled another shuriken at the running ninja, then another and another. All three went wide, but the man hit the dirt in panic as the second one flew by less than an arm's length in front of his face. Keiji hadn't stopped, though, and a few seconds later another steel throwing star had embedded itself in the man's back as he tried to scramble into cover.

Faster. Harder. More accurate. _Faster!_

oooOOOooo

Muzzily, Naruto looked around himself, trying to make sense of the carnage. The bald guard was lying motionless on the ground in front of him, blood flowing from his head. The man had been hurled completely off the platform when it had collapsed and had landed badly, before a flying fragment of a wooden beam had finished the job when it impacted on his his temple. The one with the striped hair was lying on his back just off the side, gurgling, with a kunai buried in his ribs.

He heard a loud _whack_ and turned just in time to see Kakashi-sensei deliver the most almighty kick to the face of Wabisuke Ryota. Naruto thought he'd never in his entire life seen anything so gratifying. Without pausing to assess the effect of his attack, the silver-haired jounin leaped off the pile of splintered wreckage that was all that was left of the stage and dashed forwards into the crowd. Only one person wasn't fleeing with the rest, a plain-looking girl in a kimono with a bob of brown hair who instead ran forward to meet Naruto's teacher. A burst of smoke erupted around the girl and cleared, revealing a familiar head of long pink hair and a red dress. _Sakura-chan!_

The girl tugged another kunai out of her pounch and flung it, forcing one of Kakashi's guards, who was unsteadily standing up a few feet away from Naruto, to hastily dive for cover in the wreckage again. In her other hand she was brandishing a long, two-pronged, heavy-looking metal implement, which she must have been concealing under the kimono up until now. Kakashi stopped in front of her and spun around to present his back to her as Sakura gripped the object –was that a pair of bolt cutters?- in both hands. There was a tense moment, a visible strain of effort on Sakura's face, then a muted _snap_ sound and Kakashi brought his hands around to his front, still encased in the restraint gauntlets, but finally free to move as he wished.

Not a second too soon. Naruto shouted a warning, but there was no need. Having already turned back to let Sakura free his hands, there was no way Kakashi could have missed Wabisuke hurtling towards him, weapon ready to strike. Despite being unarmed and still incapable of forming seals or even uncovering his sharingan, Kakashi lunged forward to meet his nemesis, his iron-clad fists raised. The two jounin came together in a furious exchange of blows, Kakashi parrying his opponent's sickle blade with one hand and driving his other at Wabisuke's stomach, the restraint gauntlets adding brutal weight and impact to his blows. The Iwa-nin rolled with the blow, twisting aside and flicking the chain of his weapon expertly towards Kakashi's ankles, forcing him to leap back rather than following up.

"Sakura!" Kakashi yelled, not taking his eye off his opponent as Wabisuke reeled the chain back in and prepared for another attack. "Get Naruto free and get out of here!" The girl nodded and and sprinted past the duelling jounin as Naruto finally struggled to his feet and awkwardly ran to meet her.

With only a short distance left between them, Sakura's eyes flickered to something behind him. "Naruto, duck!" she yelled and leaped into the air, one leg extended. Instantantly Naruto threw himself forward. Sakura's flying kick sailed over him and connected squarely against the face of the enemy ninja who'd come up behind him, kunai raised to strike. The man was sent reeling backwards with blood spurting from his smashed nose. The Iwa-nin managed to keep his feet, but just as he was about to charge back in against the kunoichi again two shuriken nailed him and he went down. Sakura turned back and helped Naruto to his feet. "Pull your hands apart as much as you can," she ordered in a voice that demanded immediate obedience. Naruto complied, grinning like an idiot, turning his wrists so that Sakura could maneuver the bolt cutters between the gauntlets to the lock. He was so glad to see her that all the aches and pains he'd accumulated over the past several days had just evaporated all at once.

Just as the girl had positioned the jaws of the bolt cutters on the lock and was about to throw her weight against them, she gave a gasp of pain. Something wet splashed against the back of Naruto's neck and the bolt cutters clattered to the ground. Startled, the boy turned around. Sakura had staggered back, her face a mask of shock, blood flowing from her right shoulder where a shuriken was embedded. For a horrified moment, Naruto thought she'd been struck by an errant shot thrown by their unseen supporter –which _had_ to be Keiji- but only a second later he spotted the true cause of her injury. Charging across the ground towards them from the side of the square was a slender brown-haired Iwa kunoichi wearing a tight cloth mask similar to Kakashi-sensei's across her mouth. She flicked another shuriken towards them as she ran and Naruto desperately swayed to the side to avoid it. Drawing a short ninja-to from the scabbard on her back, she leaped to attack, bringing her weapon down in a deadly arc.

The two genin jumped away in opposite directions as the blade came down between them. Quick as lightning, the enemy kunoichi turned on Sakura, one foot lashing out behind her as she did, sending Naruto tumbling away helplessly. Tugging the shuriken out of her shoulder with a pained grimace, Sakura flung it back at her attacker as she drew another kunai. The two girls came together in a clash of steel, the older kunoichi pressing Sakura hard. She was bigger, older, better armed and, if Naruto guessed correctly, probably a chuunin, while Sakura was already injured. It was all she could do to not be killed in the first pass and the slightest slip might mean her death.

Naruto cursed as he climbed to his feet again. _That seems to be the only thing I can do here,_ he thought to himself bitterly. _Swear a lot and constantly get knocked over again and again._ His taijutsu was fair enough and he knew he packed a pretty good kick, but having his hands restrained behind him made keeping his balance incredibly awkward and with only his legs at his disposal he wouldn't be able to properly block attacks. The only things he could do were kick, headbutt and bite and if he tried to bite this opponent she'd slice his head in half. Nothing in the academy had prepared him for a fight where he couldn't… make… use… of… his…

"Sakura-chan!" he shouted. "Toss me a kunai! Quick!"

Sakura couldn't even spare him a glance as she barely deflected another slash and twisted away from a thrust that would have split her solar plexus. "What?" she shouted back. "You can't even _hold_ a kunai, Naruto, what do-?"

"_Just do it!_ Quickly!" he yelled. Sakura ducked under a decapitating slice, scooped up a handful of gravel and hurled it in her opponent's face, forcing her to take a single step back. Using the brief reprieve to spring away from the enemy and open some distance, Sakura slipped her hand into her weapons pouch and tossed a kunai in her teammate's direction.

Naruto focussed all his attention on the weapon as it spun lazily through the air towards him. He'd only get one shot at this. Just as it was about to smack him on the nose, he opened his mouth, lunged forward and caught the handle in his teeth. _Here's to you, Zabuza,_ he thought grimly as he charged into the battle.

Zabuza had triumphed. But Zabuza had died.

oooOOOooo

Keiji gritted his teeth. The plan wasn't entirely working out as hoped. Rather than freeing Naruto-kun and Kakashi-sensei in the chaos and making a quick escape, his team had found themselves bogged down in a battle to the death. Sakura hadn't managed to free either of their friends completely, leaving them both severely handicapped. And he was running out of shuriken. On the bright side, that wasn't so much a problem as he was running out of targets as well. He couldn't attack either Wabisuke or the female chuunin engaged with Naruto and Sakura without running a dangerously high risk of hitting his friends instead- indeed, at this range he was MORE likely to his a friend than a foe.

Including the enemy kunoichi and their commander, he'd been able to count nineteen Rock ninja since the start of this engagement, more than they'd expected. Many had been taken down by the explosions or his shuriken, some had retreated with injuries, two were still keeping their heads down in the rubble of the stage, fearful of his shuriken and Akashi Tsuneo had mentioned that one team was definitely away on a mission for at least half a week. That left eight Iwa-nin unaccounted for. Keiji just hoped that they were still out hunting for Sakura-san and himself.

No sooner had the thought passed through his head than he spotted another enemy ninja sprinting down the road towards his position and he sighed. No such luck, apparently. As he took aim at the incoming shinobi, some sixth sense made him look around and he cursed. Apparently one of the hunting teams had found their target at last. Not one but four Iwa-nin were charging his position at once, one coming from each side to surround him, perfectly synchronised to all spring up to his position at the same time.

The Konoha genin grinned tightly. It was reassuring to know that the precautions he'd taken for just such an eventuality hadn't been wasted after all. It was something he'd only thought of in the small hours of the morning, just as Sakura-san had been burying the last of her chakra wire web. Crouching low on top of the water tank, Keiji hurriedly stuffed the last of his shuriken back into his pouches and gripped his Deathwind by its ring, watching as the enemy drew closer.

_Sakura-san's plan really was brilliant_, he mused as the Iwa team finally drew in range and all jumped towards the top of the tank at once. _Brilliant enough to be worth copying._ He reached across and grasped the chakra wire fuse running up from over the side of the tank.

The last four explosive tags in their stock, positioned on the side of the water tank at the four cardinal points, all exploded at once. Keiji leaped as high as he could, riding the force of the explosions as the top of the tank was blown skyward, sailing over his attackers towards the plaza. The Iwa-nin found themselves leaping up into a violent eruption of fire and shredded metal. Even if they'd managed to survive that, all four of them were smashed to the ground with bone-shattering force by a massive deluge of water as the contents of the shattered tank flooded out.

Keiji rolled as he hit the ground and staggered to his feet, his knees and ankles throbbing. It had been a hell of a drop. Casting a quick glance back at his handiwork, he was satisfied to see that none of his attackers looked to be getting up any time soon. Picking up his Deathwind from where he'd dropped it when he landed, he slung it on his back and forced his numb legs into a run towards the action in the plaza.

oooOOOooo

Metal rang on metal as Kakashi swatted away the weighted end of Wabisuke's chain with his iron glove. Things were not going well, he thought grimly. Wabisuke had realised that, even unable to form seals or pick up weapons, Kakashi was still a dangerous opponent to face in close quarters. Kakashi had managed to land a single good punch during the first few seconds of their engagement and there had been a satisfying _snap_ sound as the weighted gauntlets had cracked his opponent's ribs. Wabisuke had managed to slip away before he could follow up, though and was now using the reach of his kusari-gama to keep Kakashi at a distance where he couldn't harm him.

Kakashi could tell what his opponent was doing. Wabisuke was experienced enough to tell how quickly he was tiring. Aside from the residual injuries left over from their first fight, he'd had no time to recover from two days of restraint, starvation and torture. Even worse, while the restraint gauntlets made effective improvised weapons, they also weighed him down. Kakashi was having to expend chakra from his already depleted stocks to boost his muscles enough to let him keep up with his opponent's speed and it wouldn't last forever.

A second loud detonation echoed across the battleground, making every fighter flinch. Kakashi resisted the urge to look around, keeping his eye on his enemy. He spotted an opening for a split second as Wabisuke failed to do the same, the mutilated face turning slightly to the side to seek the source of the explosion and Kakashi pushed what chakra he could spare into his tired legs to charge forward, fists raised to strike.

He heard a shout from his left and was pulled up short as a wall of earth suddenly erupted from the ground right in front of him, almost causing him to smash into it headfirst. Looking at the source of the yell, he saw one of the ninja who'd been guarding him earlier crouching amid the debris of the stage with his hands pressed to the ground, having finally found the courage to rise from cover. A familiar metallic rattle was his only warning as Wabisuke's sickle came swinging towards him in a wide arc, the chain wrapping around the edge of the wall and the blade curving in at head height. He barely managed to duck and the point of the weapon buried itself in the earth. Reacting instantly, Kakashi slammed his armoured fist against the back of the weapon, driving it deeper into the wall like a nail. Sprinting out from behind the earth wall, he charged- not at Wabisuke, who was futilely tugging on the chain in an instinctive attempt to retrieve his weapon, but at the shinobi who had cast the jutsu in the first place. Startled, apparently expecting Kakashi to remain focused on his commander, the Iwa-nin tried to evade but Kakashi was too fast. Three brutal blows sent the man to the ground, unconscious.

The jounin turned back to his nemesis, breathing heavily. He didn't have much left, he had to finish this quickly. Too late, he saw that his distraction hadn't bought him as much time as he'd hoped. Wabisuke had given up on freeing the kusari-gama and had his own hands pressed to the ground. "Doton: Earth Eruption jutsu!" he yelled. The debris surrounding Kakashi trembled then exploded as the ground split beneath his feet. He desperately tried to shield his head with his hands as rocks and heavy clumps of earth leaped up to smash against him, battering his already exhausted body. A sharp-edged stone cracked against the back of his skull and Kakashi collapsed to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

Everything had gone numb. Kakashi felt like his body had been disconnected from his brain. The only thing he could feel was the pain at the back of his skull and the blood trickling from the wound there. He was unable to doing anything but watch, barely even capable of focusing, as Wabisuke tugged his weapon out of the earth wall and stalked towards him, his hideous face twisted in fury. There would be no more torments, no more games, the Iwa-nin was going to kill him now. Desperately he willed himself to move, but couldn't manage to do more than twitch a finger.

Just as Wabisuke was raising his sickle to deliver a fatal blow, only a few paces from where Kakashi was lying, a familiar _hiss_ sound sliced through the air. Spinning around with incredible speed, Kakashi's would-be killer swung his weapon desperately, barely managing to deflect a shuriken that had been aimed with directly at his head. With a violent curse, Wabisuke leaped away from Kakashi, out of his field of vision.

Kakashi had no time to enjoy his sudden reprieve. Wabisuke had only spared him because the Iwa jounin was being forced to deal with his students personally. With renewed desperation, Kakashi attempted to exert his will over his paralysed body and was rewarded with a response from his arms and legs, which slowly shifted. By his estimation, he should be able to move well enough to fight again in a couple of minutes at most. Hopefully his students could hold out against the murderous jounin at least that long…

oooOOOooo

Naruto ducked a slash from the enemy's ninja-to and lunged forward headfirst towards the woman's abdomen. The Iwa kunoichi reacted instantly, bringing her knee up to meet Naruto's face. For a split second, the boy feared the kunai he held clenched in his teeth was about to cut his own head in half, when the attack suddenly jerked off target as Naruto caught a glimpse of a slender leg sweeping the enemy's other foot out from under her. He carried through with his attack as the knee barely missed his head, but the kunoichi twisted in midair and his kunai just grazed her side as she hit the ground and flipped away, slicing nothing but cloth.

Unbalanced from his attack, Naruto braced himself for impact as he toppled forward. Just before he hit the ground, a strong hand caught him by the collar and hauled him upright again. Sakura-chan gave him a fierce smile and he grinned back at her around the kunai in his mouth. "We can do this, Naruto," the girl said. "If we can take her out, I can cut you free and we can get out of here! Are you with me?"

"Of courf I am, Fakura-tan!" he answered without hesitating, his eyes burning with eagerness. Sakura's smile turned briefly amused at his garbled voice, but in an instant her eyes were serious again. Together they turned back to face the enemy chuunin.

The woman had taken a defensive stance a few feet in front of them, her short sword held crosswise across her body, the eyes above her mask constantly flicking from one opponent to the other. "Taniguchi Tsuchiko, chuunin of Iwagakure," she declared coldly. "This ends here and now." The two Konoha genin watched her cautiously, trying to decide whether to wait for her to make the first move and possibly surprise them with something unexpected, or whether to attack first and potentially leave themselves vulnerable. Naruto knew what _he_ wanted to do, but this was Sakura's show and he was going to follow her lead.

"Haruno Sakura and Uzumaki Naruto, genin of Konohagakure," Sakura replied boldly. "We'll see about that." Her left hand flashed into her pouch again and hurled another kunai at Tsuchiko. Naruto wondered why she'd go for another kunai when she was already holding one, especially since it meant throwing with her off-hand. Less than a second later he got his answer. As soon as the ninja-to parried the kunai, the smoke bomb Sakura had carefully fitted into the ring on the end exploded, shrouding the startled woman in thick black smoke. "Go!" Sakura shouted and both young ninja lunged forward to attack.

Keeping his body low, Naruto dashed into the smoke, hoping to slice an undefended leg. Sakura went in half a pace behind him, watching in case their opponent tried to leap out of the blinding cloud. Bracing himself to adjust his aim at any second, Naruto plowed into the smoke- and out the other side again. Baffled, he pulled up short as Sakura stopped behind him. The Iwa-nin had vanished without a trace.

Suddenly Sakura yelled a warning and hurled her kunai into the air. Naruto turned to see Tsuchiko sailing directly towards him with her blade raised, apparently appearing from nowhere. He turned to defend himself, but hesitated as Sakura's kunai passed through the woman's body without any sign of resistance. Sakura said something unladylike and desperately pulled out another blade as the image of their opponent vanished and the kunoichi appeared again, this time flying towards her. After throwing that weapon away she was down to her last kunai, so rather than try to counter again she dived away from the attack, grimly noting the way it blinked out of existance as well as it hit the ground. "Careful, Naruto," she shouted, rolling to her feet. "The real one could attack at any time."

No sooner had she spoken than yet another Tsuchiko appeared in the air directly above Naruto, dropping straight down towards him with her blade ready to skewer him to the ground. Sakura cried out in shock as Naruto failed to react in time, barely managing to look up as the blade struck his face- but the cry caught in her throat as the illusion passed harmlessly through his body and vanished like the others.

_I bet Tsuchiko regrets not making that one her real attack,_ she thought, her mouth twisting into a wry smile, too relieved to even be angry with Naruto for scaring her. She took one step towards him, thinking it'd be better for them to stick closer together- then she felt a tingling in her scalp, as if something was behind her. Desperately she dodged forward, trying to spin around and bring her weapon up as she did.

Tsuchiko came flying towards Sakura from right behind her, her ninja-to rising towards the girl's undefended body in a vicious upwards slash. Sakura _almost_ managed to evade the attack, but the razor-sharp blade just caught her right forearm, slashing through the flesh as the point nearly scraped the bone. She cried out in pain as the shock forced her to drop her kunai, stumbling and falling as she failed to maintain her balance. Her expression grim with no trace of triumph, Tsuchiko reversed the swing and brought her weapon down towards the girl's head. Sakura squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the killing blow.

Instead of the shock of steel slicing into her skull, there was a metallic ringing sound. Hesitantly, Sakura opened her eyes again. Standing above her fallen body was Naruto, his legs locked, his every muscle tense, the blade of the enemy's ninja-to pressing down on the kunai clenched in his teeth. Tsuchiko was staring at the boy in disbelief as she put all her weight behind her weapon and Naruto glared defiantly back as he stood his ground.

For a few desperate seconds they were deadlocked together as Sakura crawled clear, desperately reaching for her dropped kunai. She could actually see Tsuchiko's ninja-to slowly cutting through the blade of Naruto's kunai as the woman forced her weapon down. If the kunai snapped, nothing would stop the kunoichi's sword from opening Naruto up like a sushi chef gutting a salmon- from this position he couldn't even dodge in time. Sakura pushed herself to her feet and turned to attack, praying she'd make it in time.

Just before she could lunge, Tsuchiko pulled her sword back and spun away, causing Naruto to stagger from the sudden loss of resistance. A sound of steel on steel rang out as the chuunin spun her weapon through the air, deflecting shuriken after shuriken as Keiji barreled up the street towards them, hurling his weapons without pause. At this short range his accuracy was pinpoint and the Iwa-nin was forced to continually defend herself, batting the flying blades away with impressive skill.

Sakura grabbed the staggering Naruto's shoulder to steady him. The two genin exchanged a single wordless nod before charging. Keiji hurled one last shuriken as his two teammates ran at Tsuchiko, perfectly timing it to coincide with their attack. The woman deflected the small metal blade and desperately tried to leap away from charge of Team 7's other two members, but it was too late. Sakura leaped up and intercepted Tsuchiko in midair, striking out with her kunai. Naruto dashed through underneath, catching her across her leg with his notched blade, blood from the wound spraying across his face. Tsuchiko barely managed to parry Sakura's attack, but flinched in pain as Naruto struck and Sakura took advantage of the distraction to lash out with her foot, driving it under the woman's guard and into her stomach. Tsuchiko tumbled to the ground, tried to roll to her feet, staggered as her injured leg gave way and collapsed. Before she could recover, Naruto, still charging down on her, flipped himself forward into a diving half-somersault, bringing both heels slamming down in a hammer blow to the back of her head, rendering her instantly unconscious.

Naruto lay on his back with his chest heaving. They'd done it. He lifted his legs up and swung himself upright into a sitting position, spitting out the kunai, just as Sakura and Keiji reached his side and lifted him to his feet. Sakura's face was flushed with a combination of excitement and nervous tension as she clasped her blooded hand over the gash on her arm, while Keiji was beaming with undisguised delight. "Hey," Naruto managed weakly. "Sakura-chan, Keiji, it's good to see you two again."

Sakura had tears in the corners of her eyes that Naruto had a feeling weren't all of pain. "Dammit Naruto," she snapped, smiling despite the anger in her voice, "do you have any idea how much we worried about you?" Shaking her head she looked turned to look around. "Now where did I drop those bolt cutters again?" The handful of Iwa ninja still standing had either fallen back nursing their wounds, or had taken cover, unwilling to risk themselves against Team 7 any longer. The last few civilians had fled the area, leaving the battlefield empty apart from them, the dead and injured and the billowing clouds of smoke.

A sudden thought struck Naruto. "Wait… how's Kakashi-sensei managing?" They'd lost sight of their teacher in the chaos of the battle, too preoccupied with staying alive themselves.

Keiji's expression was confident, but he glanced around the devastated plaza. "Lost track of him when he was fighting the enemy commander, but I'm sure he's holding his own. After all he's- _crapping crap it!"_ Naruto and Sakura jumped in shock at the panic in the boy's voice as he whipped a shuriken across the plaza, only seconds before Wabisuke could finish off their downed leader. The Iwa-nin turned his nightmarish face to glare hatefully at them and Keiji and Sakura blanched at their first sight of the ruined, scar-twisted features. His killing intent saturated the air, nearly making Sakura retch. It wasn't anything like as powerful as Zabuza's, but Zabuza's killing intent had been impersonal, almost pure. At best he'd seen his opponents as obstacles to be removed; at worst he saw them as toys to play with. Wabisuke's was different. There was hate there, pure hate born of insanity. Roaring in anger, the mad jounin lunged towards then with murderous intent blazing in his eyes.

Keiji desperately leaped away from the charging man, frantically casting his eyes around for a shuriken. The one he'd thrown to distract their enemy from Kakashi-sensei had been his absolute last. The area around them was littered with ones he'd thrown earlier and he snatched one up. "Sakura-san! Cut Naruto-kun free, quickly!" he yelled as he flung it at Wabisuke as he bore down on him. The scarred jounin didn't even slow, swatting the weapon aside with contempt and falling upon Keiji like an avalanche. The boy barely dodged the first slash of the sickly before the chain wrapped around his knees, causing him to lose his balance as Wabisuke lashed out again. Keiji desperately tried to twist away, but the wicked blade slashed across his neck. A crimson mist sprayed into the air and the genin collapsed with a cry of pain. Sakura screamed.

Without even pausing to survey his handiwork, Wabisuke jerked his chain free of his victim's limp legs and rushed the other two. As Sakura stood paralysed with shock and indecision, Naruto charged forward to meet him, his hands still bound. "Run, Sakura-chan!" he shouted. That was all he managed to get out. The weighted chain end of Wabisuke's kusari-gama shot out, glancing off Naruto's forehead. His charge turned into a stumble and the hulking Iwa-nin smashed him aside with a backhanded blow so brutal that Naruto actually did a complete flip in the air before crashing to the ground. "You have _long_ since ceased to amuse me, brat!" the man snarled as he charged past without pausing.

Sakura jerked out of her reverie as Naruto fell and Wabisuke turned his attention to her. Angrily blinking away the tears that were threatening to blur her vision, she gripped her kunai and braced herself. _We've come so far, we were so close, we can't be defeated now!_

Futile. She parried his first strike with her kunai, but the force of the blow staggered her so badly that she staggered back, off balance. Her enemy stepped inside her guard and drove a fist into her stomach, doubling her over in pain. The chain lashed out again and wrapped around the girl's slender throat. Wabisuke caught the other end and pulled, constricting the chain around Sakura's neck until her eyes bulged.

Groaning, Naruto barely managed to roll over. Sakura sank to her knees in front of him, clawing helplessly at the chain that was throttling the life from her, as the torturer pulled harder. His eyes found Naruto's and the deformed face twisted in a sadistic grin. "Still going to be so stoic now I have your little girlfriend here for real this time, brat? Once you watch her die, I'll kill you in front of your sensei and then I'll finally finish him off."

Naruto tried to rise, tried to shout, tried to do _anything_ as Sakura's struggles grew weaker, but couldn't move. His body felt like lead.

The world went grey.

oooOOOooo

"**Back so soon, boy?"**

"Wah!" Naruto yelped in shock. Without even realising it, he'd found himself back in the Kyuubi's prison again. "What the hell…?" he yelled, panicked. "Get me out of here! I can't be here _now!_ Sakura-chan's about to die! I don't have time for this!"

The colossal beast lay down with its head on its paws. **"Settle down, boy. Time is relative here. You have all the time you need."**

"Wha-? No I don't!" the boy shouted, spinning around in agitation looking for an exit. "Last time I thought I was only here for a couple of hours, but it turned out to have been an entire day! I have to go _now!"_

The fox growled impatiently. **"You were out an entire day because your **_**body**_** didn't wake up for an entire day, foolish brat! Why are you in such a hurry anyway? Is it so important to you to be there to watch your friend die?"** A lip curled up in a colossal sneer, revealing vicious-looking fangs.** "Again?"** The Kyuubi lifted its head and fixed Naruto with a glare. **"Or have you changed your mind about using my power to save your friends?"**

Naruto froze. Save his friends? The Kyuubi's power could save Sakura-chan? He turned slowly back to face the monster, his heart racing, his mind empty of anything except the image of Sakura's lifeless body bleeding out on the floor of the torture chamber. He would NOT allow that to become a reality. "Y-" He swallowed. "Yes. Yes, OK, I'll do it. Quickly, tell me what I have to do to save Sakura-chan."

The Kyuubi sat bolt upright, a bestial grin on its face. **"Excellent, boy! Now, you need to do two things. First, I need you to make three changes to the seal. Use your blood to draw on it."** The beast raised a paw as Naruto cautiously approached the cage and the seal that held it shut. It traced one claw through the air, leaving a trail of fire glowing behind it, until it had drawn a flaming replica of the seal in midair. **"Now, add these lines here, here and here." **The claw slashed two straight diagonal lines, one through each side of the seal, the ends crossing each other in the space between them, before adding a squiggly line that ended in a small counter-clockwise spiral at the bottom. Hesitantly, Naruto bit open the tip of his thumb and waited for the blood to bead up. Carefully, but with a steady hand, he copied the Kyuubi's changes onto the seal in front of him. The bloody marks glowed for a moment as he drew them, but as soon as he was done the smeared red lines immediately faded to a cold black, as if they'd been part of the elaborate symbol from the beginning.

Immediately Naruto felt a stinging sensation on his abdomen. He winced with pain and doubled over clutching his stomach as a feeling like fire spread across his skin, digging inwards to his guts like a twisting kunai. The Kyuubi looked down on him mercilessly. **"Get a hold of yourself boy, we're not done yet. You still need to do one more thing before the connection is open."** Naruto gasped but forced himself upright and looked the captive demon in the eye.

It lifted its paw again, this time raising it to its mouth. The jaws gaped wide, then snapped down unhesitatingly, fangs slicing into red-furred flesh. Black blood sprayed from the wound and dripped into the water that still filled the prison up to Naruto's ankles, a spreading pool of darkness that expanded from inside the cage out towards the boy. Cautiously, he backed away as the darkness got closer, then halted at the sound of the demon's voice. **"Drink it, boy," **the Kyuubi hissed. **"Just a sip will complete the bond and make my power yours. Drink, if you want to save your friends."**

Naruto bent down and cupped some of the tainted water in his hands. Raising it to his mouth he hesitated for just a moment, then drank. He gagged- it was the vilest, most bitter thing he'd ever tasted. Nevertheless, he swallowed.

Instantly the pain in his body redoubled. He fell to his knees, moaning as the fire in his belly spread throughout his entire body. The Kyuubi roared with laughter. **"Well done, boy! Now, it's time to fulfill my part of the bargain. Here comes my knowledge."** A dull pressure began throbbing in Naruto's head as alien thoughts ran through his mind and the Kyuubi's voice echoed not just in his ears, but all throughout his consciousness. **"And now, brace yourself. Here comes my POWER!"**

oooOOOooo

Wabisuke's insane grin widened even further as the girl on her knees in front of him gasped for breath, her face turning blue. Almost all his men were down, with only a handful of genin still on their feet- Kamura had been downed by an unlucky shuriken hit, Eitachi had apparently been taken out in explosions, Taniguchi had been beaten down and Suwa was still away leading his team on a pointless search mission for the very brats who had done all this. This damnable fiasco had nearly caused him to lose his captives and had made a fool out of him, so he was thoroughly enjoying every second of this repayment. He tugged harder on the chains as his surviving men cautiously approached, relishing the pained moans of the pink-haired girl as he slowly choked the life from her.

A sudden alien sensation made his hair stand on end. The air began to feel strangely heavy, as if a thunderstorm was building up. Disconcerted, Wabisuke cast his eyes around for the origin of the oppressive feeling but could see nothing out of sorts.

Suddenly a wave of pure condensed malice washed over the entire area, causing everyone to stagger. Wabisuke's grip on the chain slackened and the girl slipped unconscious to the ground. Before his eyes the diminutive figure of the blond boy was rising, first to his knees, then to his feet. A boiling storm of dark red chakra, so dense it could be seen with the naked eye, was raging around his body like a blazing flame. His eyes were squeezed tightly shut and his lips curled back from his teeth in a animalistic snarl, baring fangs that grew longer before Wabisuke's widening eyes. The lines on his cheeks that the Rock ninja had taken for tattoos thickened and grew darker. A few seconds later the swirling chakra settled down, leaving the boy surrounded by a pulsing red shroud that oozed malevolence into the air.

Although shaken by what he was seeing, the jounin was not afraid yet. The boy was still restrained, the gauntlets pinning his arms behind his back. "So, is this the secret of your unusual healing powers, boy?" he called out. "What is it you're showing me here? I'd be interested in knowing before I kill you."

The head turned to face him and the boy's eyes snapped open. Wabisuke recoiled as the gaze pierced him. Those eyes literally _glowed_ with power, bright crimson completely obscuring pupils, irises and sclera. The snarling mouth curved up into a ferocious smile and a red tongue ran over the lips. _"Kill us?" _The voice was laced with strange, gutteral harmonics, as if two people, one of whom sounded NOTHING like the teenaged boy in front of him, were speaking at the same time. _"You have that backwards, you scar-faced freak!" _The boy –if he could still be called a boy- straightened up to his full height. _"Kyuubi Technique: Fox's Claws."_

The shroud of chakra covering the Konoha genin's body began to swirl again in agitation. Where it covered the boy's restrained hands it accelerated, flowing faster and faster along the lengths of his arms, growing thicker and darker. Wabisuke sucked in an incredulous breath as he saw the metal of the restraint gauntlets begin to warp and split. With a final scream of tortured metal, the gloves shattered as the boy tore his hands free, shredded iron flying in all directions as he finally brought his arms back around to his front. The chakra over his hands was so thick that it had shaped itself into long blades of raw, concentrated power, one curving from each finger like a talon, the chakra flowing off them so fast that it would slice like a kunai. The boy raised his arms triumphantly over his head and _howled._

Shaking off his shock, Wabisuke knew he had to act quickly. _Rat, tiger, hare._ He formed the seals in a split second and two pillars of earth burst from the ground on either side of him and rapidly shaped themselves into humanoid shapes. Seconds later, he sent the two earth clones forward to attack the beast-boy, swinging their kusari-gama with deadly intent. The boy only laughed as they closed in, a horrible sound.

The young ninja moved faster than Wabisuke had ever seen him move before. Hell, he moved faster than Wabisuke believed possible; he almost moved faster than Wabisuke could _see._ The clones were not as fast or as strong as their creator, but the jounin was still shocked when their target exploded towards one of them in an orange blur, flashing under its weapon and slicing at its midriff with one hand. The clone was nearly ripped in two as the six-inch claws tore through the side of its torso, fake blood fountaining through the air in the split-second before it exploded into a mass of lifeless soil once again. A chill ran down Wabisuke's spine as he witnessed his doppleganger despatched so casually and so brutally, but he lunged forward to join his remaining clone as it turned to take vengeance for its destroyed compatriot. Both Wabisukes flung the weighted ends of their weapons as the boy turned back to face them, soil raining down around him. He dodged the clone's strike but the original's attack struck him a glancing blow on the shoulder. The jounin's satisfaction vanished in an instant as the boy didn't even register the impact in the slightest, the shroud of chakra completely absorbing the force of blow. Leaning forward, the genin charged towards his enemy, arms spread wide and claws ready.

Wabisuke leaped away, reeling his chain in again for another strike as the surviving earth clone lashed out again with the sickle end of the weapon this time, swinging it towards the boy in a deadly arc. A clawed hand plucked the sickle out of the air as easily as picking a flower and the genin jerked on it with incredible force. Taken completely by surprise the clone staggered forward, losing his grip on the weapon and falling onto his hands and knees. The boy spun his arm around his head and the flailing chain reversed direction, swinging back towards towards its former wielder. The heavy weight slammed into its side and it was sent tumbling across the ground with a roar of pain. Releasing the weapon, the boy redirected his charge towards the fallen clone, one hand held low to the ground so the claws carved a furrow through the ground as he ran. The fake Wabisuke tried to roll away but it was too slow as its attacker simply trampled right over the top of it, the chakra blades tearing it in half.

_Now!_ Wabisuke thought as the boy came to a halt, straightening up and turning back to face him again. Forming five quick seals, he slammed his hands on the ground. "Doton: Earth Eruption jutsu!"

The ground exploded around the monstrous genin as he was pelted from all sides with soil and stones. Not even the shroud of chakra was enough to absorb that many impacts coming from so many directions at once and the boy staggered, almost falling over before catching himself with one hand, swatting ineffectually at the blinding storm of earth. Wabisuke seized his chance, circling around to the boy's blind side before charging his exposed back, the weighted chain his left hand, the sickle in the right. The last stone struck a split second before he reached his target and he raised his blade to bury it at the back of his enemy's neck.

As his weapon descended, the boy tensed as if he could somehow sense the attack coming. Crouching, he spun in a tight three-hundred and sixty degree circle, claws held outward, a double slice drawing a ring of death between him and his attacker. The first swing sliced through the chain, sending loose links flying everywhere, before continuing on to cut the head from the sickle in a single blow.

The second took Wabisuke's right hand off at the wrist.

Shock paralysed the jounin's body and he stumbled, crashing gracelessly to the ground as blood spurted from the stump. Unable even to scream, he could only stare at his lost hand as he felt true terror for the first time in fourteen years, the first time since he'd been left lying alone in a burning forest, incapable of doing anything except watch as the flames had crept closer to his mangled body. He was barely aware of his last few subordinates fleeing the scene in terror as the nightmarish, chakra-shrouded figure of the boy he had futilely tortured for two days loomed over him, clawed hands raised to give him oblivion.

Just before death could descend, Wabisuke heard someone shout. "Naruto!" Kakashi called out, causing the boy standing over him to hesitate and look away for an instant. That familiar, hated voice cut through the shock, galvanising the Iwa-nin to action. Pushing himself upright with his remaining hand, he scrambled into a staggering run. Naruto turned back immediately, screamed and pounced, vicious claws ripping through Wabisuke's undefended back and deep into his body.

As Wabisuke felt the clone explode into a heap of earth, he heard the demon-boy screaming in frustrated rage. But he was already staggering down the side alley, heading back towards his headquarters.

This wasn't over yet.

oooOOOooo

Naruto/the Kyuubi howled in fury as they were tricked by their enemy's kawarimi, head turning from side to side searching for some trace of the man. Instead, all they could see was Kakashi-sensei cautiously approaching them, gloved hands raised placatingly in front of him. "Naruto," their teacher called to them. "Are you in control of yourself?"

Naruto/the Kyuubi lowered their clawed hands as they turned to face the Konoha jounin. _"Yes Kakashi-sensei, we're alright."_

"No, it's not _'we'_, Naruto," Kakashi snapped. _"_It's _'I'._ Say 'I am in control'. Now."

The boy took a deep shuddering breath, fighting down the strange thoughts and feelings that snaked through his head. Closing his glowing eyes he clenched his fists, the chakra blades flowing harmlessly against his skin as his fingers curled inwards. He opened his eyes again, sapphire blue meeting his teacher's dark right eye, the pulsing shroud dying down until it was barely visible flickering over his skin. "Okay, okay Kakashi-sensei. _I'm_ alright. I'm in control. I've got it."

Kakashi visibly relaxed. "That's good. We can talk about what you did later. First we need to get out of here." He held his hands out towards his student. "Uh, I don't suppose can do anything about…?"

Naruto blinked. "Uh, sure sensei. Just give me a second to…" He walked up to his sensei and concentrated. The chakra shroud thickened again for just a moment and Naruto raised a clawed hand. Kakashi didn't even flinch as two quick swipes sliced the locks off his gauntlets, causing them to fall open and drop to the ground.

"Thanks Naruto," he said as he tried to massage blood back into his tingling fingers. Naruto concentrated again and this time the shroud flickered and faded out of existence completely, taking the claws with it. "Where are Keiji and Sakura?"

The boy's eyes widened. "Oh no, Keiji! Wabisuke cut his throat with his sickle-thing, I don't know if he's alive or he's-"

"I'm alive, Naruto-kun," a tired-sounding voice cut in. Keiji slowly limped up to stand between his teammate and his teacher, one hand pressed against the side of his neck. Blood had soaked his jacket half way to his waist, but for a boy with a cut throat he seemed awfully lively. Lifting his chin and turning his head a bit, he showed them his neck. "He only grazed me. Missed all my major arteries and my windpipe, just sliced into the muscle on the side. It must have looked a lot worse than it was which must be why he didn't finish me off, although the shock did cause me to black out for a minute or two there."

Naruto sighed with relief, then turned and ran to where Sakura was lying motionless on the ground. The pretty girl's face was pale and Wabisuke's chain had left a hideous necklace of darkening bruises running around her throat, but she was still breathing and as he kneeled beside her and put his hand on her neck he felt her pulse going strong under the skin. He almost allowed his body to go limp as he realised they'd all survived somehow- he was alive, Kakashi-sensei was alive, Keiji was alive and Sakura-chan was alive too.

"Right you two," his sensei called out from behind him. "Get Sakura, get anything we need _quickly _and get the hell out of this town, now. Move quickly in case there are still any enemies left, avoid any conflicts, don't do any more damage and if possible try to avoid being seen. I'll meet up with you just outside the western wall." He nodded down the road leading to the west gate of Hosokusa. "Get moving, I'll catch up as soon as I can."

Keiji's brow furrowed. "Sensei? Why aren't you coming with us now?"

"I can't, not yet. I have some… _unfinished business_ that I have to resolve."

oooOOOooo

Wabisuke staggered as he reached the top of the stairs, a trail of blood leading all the way back down to the entrance on the first floor, out into the streets of Hosokusa and all the way back to the devastated plaza. He knew he'd probably bleed to death in short order if he didn't get medical treatment soon, but for now the crude tourniquet he'd managed to tie one-handed around the stump of his wrist would have to suffice. His office was at the end of the corridor that ran across the second floor of the tower and if Koga had finished his report then it should be there with the forged mission scroll. If he could just manage to get them sent off to Iwagakure, his plan for revenge might still come to fruition.

"Koga, damn you!" he bellowed again. "Where are you?" His aide wasn't a medic-nin, but he should have enough medical knowledge to help him stem the bleeding from his severed hand. But the thin chuunin made no response.

Staggering to the open door of his office, Wabisuke saw Koga sitting at his own desk in the corner, his head resting on the wooden surface. For a moment he couldn't believe it. Had the man been having a _nap_ while everything had been going to hell in town? Crossing to stand behind his subordinate's chair it took him a second to realise what he was seeing. Koga would never be waking up again, not with a kunai buried up to the hilt at the base of his skull. A small amount of blood had trickled from the wound to stain the half-completed report he was slumped over, but there was no sign of the vital scroll closed with the Seal of Secrets.

"Wabisuke," a voice called from out in the corridor. The jounin's blood boiled at the sound, fury beginning to overwhelm him and drowning out his agony. He stormed out into the corridor and glared hatefully down at the man standing at the other end.

Hatake Kakashi stood calmly at the far end of the corridor. Balanced on the palm of one hand, the irreplaceable mission scroll that would ignite the war between Iwa and Konoha was burning from the top down like a candle, rapidly collapsing into ash- just like Wabisuke's plan. His nemesis gave him a steady look, filled with nothing but contempt. "It's over Wabisuke. You've lost. It's time for you to exit the stage now, for good."

Blood-red hatred filled the Rock ninja's vision. _"KAKASHI!"_ he screamed, drawing a kunai with his remaining hand. Kakashi didn't even move as, howling with berserk rage, the mad jounin charged down the corridor towards him.

The kunai plunged into the man's chest… and Wabisuke staggered forward as the shadow clone exploded into smoke, the destroyed scroll drifting to the ground in a heap of charred paper and ash. As he fell to his knees, he felt the cold sensation of sharp steel pressing against his throat. "You were right about one thing, Wabisuke," the hateful voice whispered in his ear. "It's not smart to leave unfinished business."

Wabisuke's world drowned in a sea of blood.

oooOOOooo

Coincidentally, the west gate was where Keiji and Sakura had chosen to stash supplies for them to quickly pick up before escaping as part of their original rescue plan, so Keiji and Naruto had grabbed the backpacks on the way out, with Naruto carrying Sakura on his back. She awoke less than a minute before Kakashi-sensei had caught up with them again so each member of Team 7, tired and battered as they were, made their escape from the town on their own two feet. No pursuit seemed to be forthcoming, but they headed straight for Konoha at a dead run regardless.

None of the injuries any of them had received in the battle had turned out to be serious, although Kakashi thought that both Keiji and Sakura would have a few scars once the bandages came off their neck and arm. More important was the private talk Kakashi had taken Naruto aside for on the first evening after their escape when they stopped to recover.

"Naruto," the older man had said quietly, "I'm not going to ask you why you did what you did, because if you hadn't we'd all be dead now. So for now I just need to know one thing: can you keep the Kyuubi under control?"

The blond-haired boy looked uncertain. "Um… I _hope_ so, Kakashi-sensei. I don't trust it, but I'm pretty sure it still can't get out on its own unless I let it. I'm not exactly sure what it did, but I'm still the one calling all the shots, so it should be okay."

His teacher placed a reassuring hand on Naruto's left shoulder. "It's alright, Naruto. I know you're afraid of the Kyuubi's power because it's what you've been hated for all your life, but I don't necessarily think you did the wrong thing. The Fourth Hokage was my teacher and while he never told me this himself, it's both my belief and that of the Third that he intended for the power of the Kyuubi to be yours to use for the betterment of Konoha." Stepping in front of the boy and putting his other hand on his right shoulder, Kakashi bent down to look straight into his student's eyes. "But mark my words, Naruto, _be careful_ with it. By all means you should learn to master that power, to make sure you know how to control it when you need it, but you should still try to avoid using it unless you _absolutely_ have to. If there's another way, try it first before resorting to the Kyuubi. Make it your last resort, your secret weapon. Is that clear?" The boy nodded and Kakashi smiled behind his mask, ruffling the blond hair affectionately. "Excellent! Now let's go back to the others."

That first night, they'd all been too tired to talk much. Kakashi had insisted they sleep as quickly as possible so they could get an early start the next day. Despite the risks of encountering potentially hostile Iwa forces, the jounin had decided the team would travel along the same road they'd travelled with the caravan on the way into the Earth Country, the quickest path back to Fire Country, rather than going cross-country. Keiji would be slowed at night in rough terrain and Kakashi knew that it was vital they get back to Konoha as soon as possible to inform the Hokage of the events that had transpired. And so, only two days after the escape, Team 7 was camping for the evening just inside the borders of the Fire Country, finally able to relax. They hadn't seen any signs of Rock ninja the entire time and should be arriving back in Konoha by just before lunchtime the next day.

Finally given the time to unwind and talk, the two pairs exchanged stories. Kakashi and Naruto had listened, impressed, as they heard how their teammates had escaped capture, infiltrated Hosokusa, captured Akashi Tsuneo, interrogated him for information and planned, set up and executed the plan that had saved them from execution.

"So what did you do with that Iwa genin?" Kakashi questioned them once they'd finished their recount. "You didn't, uh… kill him, did you?"

Sakura looked affronted. "Of course we didn't, Kakashi-sensei! We put an even bigger dose of the sleeping medicine we used to capture him in the first place in the water we gave him and left him untied and tucked out of sight at the back of the warehouse we were hiding in. That way he wouldn't wake up until nightfall, when it would all be over anyway."

Kakashi nodded approvingly. "Well thought out. I really have to hand it to you two. You did _amazingly_ well under tough conditions." Naruto added his praise too, causing Sakura to blush happily and Keiji to rub the back of his head, embarrassed.

The two of them, however, had been horrified when Kakashi and Naruto had recounted the details of their nightmarish imprisonment and Wabisuke's insane plan to provoke a war in the name of vengeance. Sakura had visibly shuddered when Kakashi had mentioned how the sadistic shinobi had murdered an earth clone disguised as her to try and break them. "Kakashi-sensei," she asked, hesitatingly, "how do we know a war won't break out anyway? I mean, we basically attacked an Earth Country city, caused huge amounts of damage and… lots of… injuries…" She stumbled over the words and both hers and Keiji's pained expressions showed that they realised they'd probably done a lot more than just that. "Even if you destroyed the fake mission scroll, what if they believe this was all part of some plan by Konoha anyway?"

"Don't worry about it, Sakura," their teacher reassured her confidently. "Wabisuke's plan is as dead as he is. From what Akashi told you, Wabisuke's only co-conspirator among his subordinates was Koga and Koga's dead. None of the others would have been in on his plan. When their superiors question them about what happened, they'll only be able to tell them what they know- the truth. The truth that their commander ordered them to ambush and capture us completely unprovoked, that your attack was to save us from execution and they know nothing about our supposed plan to assassinate the Daimyo. They're hardly going to make up lies to tell their own people as part of a plan they knew nothing about." He folded his arms. "Also, Wabisuke and Koga are dead, but Naruto and I are not. No matter what Iwa thinks, we know the truth and the Hokage will let the Tsuchikage know that as well. Our word isn't exactly meaningless. There's no way Iwa will be able to have a plausible pretext to declare war now, especially without Wabisuke around to agitate it." He smiled. "It's all fine, Sakura. We won this one."

"Sensei." Keiji suddenly spoke up. "What was it Naruto-kun did to save us from Wabisuke anyway? I missed most of it, but I thought I saw him… was he glowing red? What was that about?"

Naruto went stiff and Sakura gave Keiji a quizzical look. Kakashi looked thoughtful. "That's…" he trailed off. "…that's a bit of a secret for now. We can discuss it some other time." The jounin turned to look Naruto in the eyes and smiled. "But you can take my word for it that it's nothing to worry about. Trust me." Naruto returned the smile faintly.

Clapping his hands together, the older ninja stood up from the campfire. "Well, before we turn in for the night, let me just say I have been _incredibly_ impressed with how all three of you have performed on this screw-up of a mission. I'd say you're more than ready to try for chuunin and I'll definitely be putting you forward when the next round of the Chuunin Exams arrives in six months."

Naruto groaned. "Aw hell, I forgot about the Chuunin Exam! We missed getting to see the finals!"

Keiji shrugged. "It's okay, Naruto-kun. There's always another chance. Next time, we'll be the ones taking part."

Both his teammates couldn't help but smile at that. "Hell yeah, that's right!" the blond agreed enthusiastically. "It'll be our turn next. That's going to be WAY more awesome than just watching."

oooOOOooo

The next day they set off as soon as the sun rose, bypassing Tanzaku Gai where they'd originally started out from and cutting through the deep forests that gave the Hidden Village of the Leaves its name. Naruto was humming with excitement. He couldn't wait to get back home, to go to Ichiraku for a nice bowl of ramen, to meet with all the other genin, ask them about the Chuunin Exam and tell them about his own team's adventure. It had been a horrific nightmare to live through, but since they'd all survived Naruto felt stronger and more confidant than ever.

Roughly an hour away from Konoha, Keiji came to a sudden halt on a branch, staring at something in the sky above the treeline. One by one, the rest of Team 7 stopped and turned back as soon as they realised he wasn't following them. "What is it, Keiji?" Kakashi called out to him. "Do you see something?"

Without saying a word, Keiji sprang from his branch to a higher one, swinging and climbing, leaping across to an unsually tall tree and going up and up as high as he could reach until he was perched right on top, way above the rest of the forest canopy, still staring into the distance. Disconcerted, his teammates followed him up part way, trying to see what had caught the boy's attention.

"I don't see anything, sensei," Naruto complained. "Keiji, what's up already?"

Suddenly Kakashi sucked in a sharp breath. "Keiji!" he snapped. "Can you see? Is that…?"

"What?" Naruto asked frustrated. "Tell me already! What's got him so riled up?"

Kakashi pointed into the sky in the direction that had their teammate so transfixed- the direction of Konoha. "In the sky. Smoke." He looked across as Keiji dropped down to their level. "Tell me it isn't…"

"It is." Keiji's voice was barely more than a trembling whisper. "Konoha's been destroyed."

TO BE CONTINUED…

################

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Well, how's THAT for a cliffhanger ending?

I'm glad I finally completed the 'Iwa-nin's Revenge' arc. It wasn't supposed to BE an arc at first, just a single chapter story to fill in time between the Hinata story (the end of the second stage of the Chuunin Exams) and the next one (the aftermath of the finals) but it kind of grew out of control. I mainly attribute this to how much I raised the stakes- in the original story outline, Wabisuke didn't have any kind of grand plan to start a war between Iwa and Konoha, he just wanted to capture Kakashi, make him suffer, then kill him. Things just kind of grew and grew as I added more detail- why is he interrogating Kakashi if he only wants to make him suffer, how is he going to justify publically executing Konoha nin, things like that which needed to be explained. More stuff was just made up wholesale, perhaps most notably the entire 'Akashi Tsuneo' story from chapter 5. I had fun writing that bit.

I probably SHOULDN'T have promised to get this out within a week at the end of chapter 5. I still count the promise as "kept"- just before midnight Sunday night Sydney time is still "before the end of the week" as far as I'm concerned, but my GOD did I have to marathon it on Sunday! Pretty much the last 10-15 pages were all rushed out in the space of half a day (my usual lack of discipline caused me to get stuck for days on the end of the fight scene with Tsuchiko and the transition into Wabisuke's attack and I ended up playing large amounts of Smite instead). This chapter is more than a little rough as a result -I barely had time to show it to my beta readers at the Spacebattles forum before posting it here- so it's actually quite possible that I'll make some revisions to it later. Damn, the things I do to keep my promises.

God-damn am I tired. And even as I write this, I know I still have to go back and reread the entire chapter before posting to make any last-minute changes.

NEXT TIME:

Team 7 return home to find a hellish nightmare even worse than the one they just escaped. What remains, who has fallen, who still lives and what can they do now? Find out in **Naruto: The Secret Songs of the Ninja chapter 7- The Song of Bitter Ashes.**

- Arcane Azmadi


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